The Disasters Of Today
by BladesCutButWordsAreDeeper
Summary: Maybe the well made a mistake for a reason, if it even was able to have reasons. Maybe meeting them was a good thing...Kagome just isn't sure...InuYasha Naruto Xover, SasKag SanGaa NaruSaku RinIta
1. Jumping Into A New Life

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or Naruto

Summary: Sango and Kagome barely escaped with their lives from the feudal era, after Miroku, Shippou, InuYasha and SesshouMaru died. But when they fell through the well, Rin attached to Kagome's hand and Sango holding Kagome's arm with Kirara on her shoulder, they don't end up in our time, but in a completely different dimension, and suddenly Rin is much older than just 10-12, but rather they are all 16. sorry if the summary sucks…hehe…

Pairings: Kag/Sas San/Gaara Naru/Saku Rin/Ita

A/N: this is the only AN that I'll add, I swear. I just wanted to say that Itachi may be like eight years older than Sasuke in the show, but I'm making him eighteen even though he should be around 24…

Chapter 1: Jumping Into A New Life

A bird sang a song somewhere nearby the old Bone Eater's well, the area silent. Half way through the bird's song, there came a rustle, and it flew off, scared of the sudden motion. Out of the bushes came three figures, all of them running. One was a little girl around 10 years old, and she was attached to the hand of a 16 year old girl, who was running with another girl her age, who was holding onto the middle one's arm.

These three girls were Rin, Kagome and Sango. Rin was the little girl, with long black hair that was currently in a mess, and her dark brown eyes were filled with fear and horror. The one she was holding hands with was Kagome, her long raven black hair that reached her shoulder blades was flying behind her, blood was all over her school uniform that was not hers and her honey brown eyes were filled with tears.

Holding on to Kagome was Sango, who was holding her tears back from falling over her dark brown eyes, her magenta eye shadow seemed to be permanent if you saw her every day. Her long dark brown hair was in a high ponytail and she wore her youkai slayer outfit, her huge boomerang bone named Hiraikotsu was on her back.

They ran towards the well, their only means of escape. Or at least escape for Kagome, they were not sure if their idea would work for Sango and Rin to go through with her if they held on to her. If InuYasha was able to, they were, right? As they reached the well, they heard a noise behind them and Sango turned, blocking an attack from Naraku, who was sending black energy balls at them.

Sango made sure Kirara, her fire cat youkai friend, was on her shoulder. The cat mewed, hissing at Naraku, but did not transform larger, for one being too exhausted and for two she knew that she needed to stay with Sango. Kagome, looking back at the feudal era one last time, jumped. Fallowing was Sango and Rin, Naraku trying to fallow as well.

But as he jumped in, the light engulfed him, and he seemed to be burned, but he did not make it through. Instead, he found himself alone in the well, standing on solid ground, and the three girls and fire cat no where to be seen. He yelled out in frustration, and jumped out, then began to laugh evilly.

That, of course, was the last time that any of the girls would see of the feudal era, but as they appeared on the other side of the well, instead of seeing a roof, they once again found a sky, but it was not night time, but rather sunny. Kagome blinked. "Where's the well house?" she asked to herself. Sango had never been through the well, so she did not know what Kagome spoke of, and neither did Rin.

"Kagome, is something wrong?" Sango asked.

"There should be a roof, not sky. There should also be a ladder so I can get up." Kagome replied, looking around and finding no wooden ladder she could climb up when she got home. "We're not in my time…"

"Kagome?" Sango asked, poking her shoulder. "I think something went wrong."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, turning. She gasped as she looked at where Rin should be, and instead found a girl their age. The girl had long black hair still, but it was in a long braid and her eyes were now slightly more narrow and mature, but the fear and horror of the young Rin was still there, as well as the innocence.

"Rin?" Sango asked.

"Y-yes…?" she whispered, and Kagome gasped.

"The well did something. I think it was because you two came with me. I'm guessing it made Rin this age." Kagome whispered. She looked at Rin's body. It was rather curvy, perfect like Kagome and Sango, and instead of an orange kimono that would obviously be way too small now, there was a black net shirt, with a black tank top underneath, and she wore Capri pants that were red and a sword at her side, held by a red sash.

"It didn't just change her, but your clothing too." Sango said with a raised eyebrow. Kagome looked down to find herself in a black spaghetti strapped tank top and a pair of hakama pants like InuYasha's except black, and in it's sheath was Tetsusaiga, tied to her hip. Both she and Rin wore a pair of black sandals. Sango, however, wore the same thing.

"This is strange…" Kagome whispered, looking up. "I really don't like this."

"Neither do I, but we're not going to find out what's out there if we don't leave this well." Sango replied, and Kagome nodded, looking down at Tetsusaiga. She only wished that InuYasha were here with her, that this was all a dream, that she could argue with InuYasha and later try and pet his cute little doggy ears. She closed her eyes, and then opened them, looking up.

"Let's go…" she whispered and began climbing the cracks of the well, going up slowly, and when she lifted herself over the lid she blinked at what she found. She heard Sango and Rin as they fell to the floor after heaving themselves over the edge and heard them get up beside her, but she did not look away from the sight before her.

"Where are we?" Sango asked. Before them was a huge forest, but they could tell that it was not InuYasha forest. They looked back to the well to find it wasn't there. Kagome stared at the spot where it should have been, and instead found a tree.

"Did the well bring us to a time where it wasn't even built?" Kagome asked herself.

"No, this isn't Japan, nor anywhere else from our world." Sango mumbled, looking around. "Kirara can't smell anything, and I can't feel the presence of a youkai anywhere, and there is something about this air that does not remind me of our own world. Also, this forest, even though this _could_ be a thousand years ago, is not the InuYasha forest or any other forest."

"I think you're right." Kagome said, looking around. "Should we go look for a village?"

"Probably the best idea we can come up with right now…" Sango whispered. Kirara mewed, and Kagome looked down at the Tetsusaiga again, and Rin shivered.

"I miss SesshouMaru-sama…" she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. Kagome turned to Rin, and smiled softly.

"Don't worry, he died protecting you, and besides, now you don't have to deal with his glares and his carelessness." Kagome said with a wink, and Rin smiled softly, but sadly.

"You lost someone, too." She whispered. "You lost InuYasha-sama and Shippou-kun, and Sango-chan lost Miroku-Houshi-sama."

"Rin, can we…" Kagome sighed. "Can we talk about this later?" she asked, looking down. Rin nodded softly.

"Let's go." Sango said, looking around. "I don't like not being able to sense enemies."

"Right," Kagome said, looking suddenly determined. They began walking, and they took in their surroundings, remembering little things and making sure to stay on their guard at all times. About three hours of walking later, they stopped for a rest by a small river, and took a small drink. Rin was humming softly as she splashed her face, washing off the sweat, and Sango slipped off her clothes, diving in.

Kagome smiled softly and took off her own clothes, then jumped into the water.

"Daddy!" 3 year old Kagome called, jumping into a man's arms. She couldn't see his face, it was a blur, but she saw him place down an orange colored book, and saw that her mother was glaring at the book coldly for some reason. Of course, Kagome did not know what the book was, so she thought her mother was being silly. She sat in the man's lap and closed her eyes, listening as her mother talked to the man.

Kagome resurfaced, and blinked. What was that about? The man had been her father, but she couldn't remember his face. She remembered the color of the book easily, but could not remember what was on the cover, and she had never seen a book like that ever again. She sighed as she swam back to shore, getting out of the water and putting her clothes back on.

Sango came out soon afterwards and put her own clothes back on, looking at them in distaste. Kagome giggled. "You want some new clothing, huh?"

"Yeah, it's kinda unfair that you two get cool clothing but I have to wear this old thing." Sango said, huffing. Kagome shrugged.

"Well, we'll some how get new clothes for you." Kagome replied. "There's bound to be a village somewhere around here, and now that the well has disappeared…I don't think that we'll ever be going home."

"I think you're right," Sango replied with a small sigh. She looked down at her hands, the ones that had smacked Miroku so many times, the ones that had been held in his hands when he asked if they could marry and have children. She looked away and sighed again. "Let's go." She said, and they began walking again, silent as they thought of their lost companions.

After a couple hours of walking the sun began to set, and something big was ahead of them. They continued walking, and found a huge, huge gate with walls, and on posts at the top were two men wearing baggy hakama pants and black shirts. Kagome blinked. "I think we found a village." She said, and Sango nodded in reply.

"We've jumped into a new life," Rin said, staring at the gate in wonder. "Let's go make the best of it."

End Chapter


	2. Welcome To Konoha

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 2: Welcome To Konoha

Kagome gulped as she heard Rin's words, and as she stood there she felt her heart beat faster. The bad part about this was that Rin was right, and Kagome didn't like that. She didn't know how long she stood there just thinking about what Rin had said, but what made her pay attention again was the huge gates opening. She looked over to find Sango and Rin just standing there like she had been doing.

They hadn't asked for the gate to open, so that meant that someone was coming out. She looked at the guards to find they were staring at them with curious expressions and Kagome felt her face heat up in embarrassment. She thought that maybe they had opened the gates for them anyways, but that was shattered as soon as she saw four people walk out of the gates.

One had short pink hair to her shoulders, green eyes and a strange headband worn like a hair band that had a metal plate on it with a swirling leaf on the middle of the surface, and it was holding her bangs back. She wore a pink, long shirt that reached her knees with short sleeves and a pair of green Capri pants with a strange pocket strapped onto her right thigh.

The one next to her had pale skin with dark blue eyes and blue-black hair that was spiked in the back but smooth in the front, and he wore the same headband but around his forehead. He wore a blue t-shirt that was slightly turtle necked and puffy at the neck with white arm cuffs, beige shorts with the same pocket strapped to his right thigh and bandages around his ankles.

The last one was slightly tanned with electric blue eyes and slightly long, spiky, slightly shaggy, sticking up blond hair with the same headband wrapped around his forehead and he wore an orange jumpsuit with a black T-shirt underneath and a pocket strapped to his right thigh as well, and he had three lines on either side of his face, and both Sango and Kagome sensed something from him that was slightly demonic.

Then there was a man behind all of them, he had long silver hair that was swept to the side that reminded Kagome painfully of InuYasha, and his hair stuck up. He wore a cloth mask which covered half his face, and he had one black eye and one eye covered by a tilted headband that was like the rest of them. He wore a pocket on his right thigh as well, and wore a pair of blue sweat pants and a green vest and a blue sweater.

"Hey! Who're those guys?" the blond one asked, and they all looked over to where the three girls stood, Kirara standing beside Sango. Naruto looked down at the fire cat and blinked. "That's different, I've never seen a cat with two tails, red eyes and was creamy colored with stripes on it's tail _and_ a black diamond on it's forehead!"

"It's not a diamond you dweeb, it's the fur." The boy with black hair replied, and the blond huffed.

"Like you would know, Sasuke." The boy mumbled, and Kagome blinked. The man in the back looked at her carelessly and scanned the other girls, and then reached into his pocket and pulled out an orange book, opening the pages and reading it. "Kakashi-sensei! Why are you reading the hentai book again?"

"Naruto, shut up!" the girl snapped, her eyebrow twitching. The boy pouted and crossed his arms. Kagome blinked, that boy was just a little immature seeming as he looked her age. "Now, are you three travelers?" the girl asked sweetly, looking at Kagome. She looked at the girl and blinked.

"Uh, I guess you could say that…" Kagome said with a shrug.

"Do you have business with the Hokage?" the boy asked excitedly. Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"What's a Hokage?" Kagome asked.

"The leader of the village, duh!" the boy said. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and one day I'll be the greatest Hokage ever!"

"Nice to meet you, Naruto." Kagome said, bowing slightly. Sango and Rin did so as well. "I am Higurashi Kagome and these are my companions and friends Sango-chan and Rin-kun."

"Nice to meet you!" the girl said, beaming. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and the silent guy beside me is Uchiha Sasuke-kun!"

"And that guy's Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto mumbled, shoving his thumb behind him where the man was still reading the book. Kagome stared at the book, the flash back from the river coming back to her mind.

"Excuse me, Kakashi?" Kagome asked, "Where did you get that book?"

"At a book store," Kakashi replied lazily. "Where else?"

"I was just wondering…" Kagome said, "I just remember seeing a book like that back home, which isn't exactly…uh…here."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "Are you from the Village Of The Sand?"

"Huh…?" Kagome asked, and Naruto blinked.

"Where are you from?" he asked curiously.

"We don't really come from anywhere." Sango said, finally speaking. Kagome looked over at Sango, and smiled in small thanks. She was about to say Tokyo in the Higurashi shrine.

"Interesting…" Sakura mumbled. But as Kagome looked at Kakashi again, he had looked away from the book to stare at the three girls from the saying that they didn't come from anywhere.

"What brought you here?" he asked.

"Uh…we kinda just stumbled upon it…" Kagome whispered, and Kakashi glared suspiciously.

"Then you had no idea where you were." He stated.

"Yeah, I suppose." Sango replied.

"Why are you wearing such strange clothing?" Sasuke asked, making Kagome almost jump from his calm voice. She looked at him, and shivered slightly. He was looking at Sango though, directing his question at her.

"I come from a different kind of village." Sango said. "We all do, but Kagome and Rin don't remember."

"You traveled alone?" Kakashi asked. He suddenly looked very worried and aware.

"Why do you care?" Rin asked curiously.

"I don't," he replied. "I just think that this might be important. We should bring matters up with Tsunade-sama."

"Oh! We get to see granny Tsunade?" Naruto asked, and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Naruto, she's not your granny." Sakura mumbled. "You're sixteen now, you should know better…"

"Well she's old enough, and besides, I don't care how old I am, I like being a kid." Naruto said proudly.

"Well, you know, to be Hokage, you can't yell all the time and do what ever you want. It comes with a lot of responsibility." Sakura said knowingly. Naruto huffed.

"Will you two stop and pay attention to the matter at hand?" Sasuke said, cutting in. "Kakashi-sensei, should we hold on our mission and bring these girls to the Hokage?"

"Good idea," Kakashi said, and closed his book, putting it back in his pocket. "Let's go." They entered the gates, and Sakura walked beside Rin, who was staying as close to Kagome as she could. Sango walked beside Naruto, glancing at the humming boy every now and then, and Sasuke took up the rear, silent. Kakashi was in the front, walking lazily with his hands in his pockets.

"This is Konoha, the strongest ninja-village there is, and then there's the wind country, which is almost as powerful. We're part of the fire country." Sakura said, and Kagome blinked.

"Ninja…?" she asked, and Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, we're ninja. We're in the genin level still, but only cuz Sasuke had to run off for a couple of years," Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke after turning around for a second. Sasuke glared coolly back at Naruto, and Kagome raised an eyebrow. "We're already past the Chuunin level, but the Chuunin exams are coming up in about two months, so we'll have a shot at that, and then we'll become Shinobi at last."

"They're called Jounin you dweeb," Sasuke said, and Naruto stuck his tongue out. They continued walking in silence, walking through the village over to the tallest building in the place most likely, and they entered, going through halls and up stairs until they reached a shoji door and Kakashi pushed it open.

"Hokage-sama, we have three unexpected guests." Kakashi said, walking in with the teens trailing close behind.

"Kakashi, if I didn't know better, I'd of thought you'd been partying with younger people again." A woman said, sitting behind a ton of paper work. She had long blond hair in pig tails and blue eyes with a strange diamond shape on her forehead, wearing a sleeveless kimono top and a pair of blue sweat pants. Kakashi sweat dropped as he heard this.

"I'm not a younger person anymore, so what's the point?" he asked, and Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Take a joke just once, Kakashi." She mumbled, and looked over at Kagome, Sango and Rin. "Who're these people?"

"Kagome, Sango and Rin." Kakashi replied. "They are travelers who don't have any idea what ninja are and have had no training if I am correct."

"Interesting." Tsunade said and yawned. "Shizune!" she called and a woman came out of no where, and she looked at Tsunade. "Can you take care of these people? I have some…(yawn) work to do."

"Of course," Shizune said and bowed to the Hokage, then turned and bowed to the teens and Kakashi. "Please, come with me." She said and walked away.

"Kakashi, you stay here." Tsunade said lazily, and Kakashi stayed put, leaning against a wall as he watched the six teens leave with the fire cat on Sango's shoulder. As soon as they were gone and the door was shut Tsunade spoke again. "That Sango one, she has a strange cat on her shoulder. Her outfit, it's like a ninja's, but not from here. That huge boomerang thing on her back looks like it weighs a ton."

"She must be a ninja from her village then," Kakashi replied and Tsunade nodded.

"She could have some good skills, so could the others. Kakashi, could you please keep an eye on those three girls, and maybe even train them?" Tsunade asked, and Kakashi blinked.

"You don't even know what level they are," Kakashi replied and Tsunade shrugged.

"I don't know why, but I get this strange feeling from that Kagome girl." Tsunade said. "It's like there's something different about her…something bigger than Naruto even, or the Uchiha blood and that stupid curse mark that was a pain in the ass to fix put together."

"I feel it too, and it's not Chakra." Kakashi said, and Tsunade nodded.

"Now, for a report!" Tsunade said, beaming, and Kakashi sighed.

End Chapter


	3. Learning New Things

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 3: Learning New Things

Kagome stared at her room. She had to stay with Sasuke, because his house was huge and he lived alone, and the others had full houses already with either a big family they lived with or a small apartment that couldn't fit them. Kakashi had said that he could take Rin but Kagome and Sango would have to find another place.

Naruto had said not to worry about Rin, and that Kakashi probably picked her because she was smaller and didn't look as strong as either Kagome or Sango, and he most likely wanted to ask some questions. Then he began pestering Sasuke, who ended up letting the girls stay at his house, which was why Kagome was standing there, staring at a large, empty room in the huge Uchiha mansion.

Sango was just down the hall on her right, and Sasuke was down the hall on her left. There was a turn where Sasuke's room was, leading to a bathroom and a stair case to go downstairs where the living room, kitchen and a couple other rooms were. There was a third floor, but the two girls were forbidden to go up there.

She sighed, walking into the room and sitting on the huge bed that was there, made with black sheets and a red blanket. She looked down at her hands, and bit her lip. What was she going to do?

Naraku was still alive, he could be terrorizing Japan at this very moment and she would have no clue, but why should she care…? '_Because your family is there, and so is InuYasha's dead body…' _she reminded herself, and sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment then reopened them, looking down to find her hands were shaking slightly. She laughed, a cold, shrill laugh.

"Now look at that…" she whispered. "I'm shaking…" she gave a dry sob, and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and burying her face in between her legs, closing her eyes. She held back the tears that longed to come out, the tears that had not come out yet, the tears that held her fear, her sadness.

"Hey," came a voice and her head snapped up right before the first tear fell. She found Sasuke there, watching her. "What's wrong?" he asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Nothing…" Kagome replied, whispering.

"Don't tell me nothing," Sasuke said boredly. "You're in pain, you're holding something back when you shouldn't."

"Why…do you care?" Kagome asked thickly.

"Why are you suddenly cold when the Kagome I saw back there was happy?" Sasuke replied.

"Why don't you just mind your own business?" a voice snapped behind him and he barely turned to see Sango there. "We have our own problems, Uchiha. It's not that hard to see that you have no family, why else would you have a huge house all to yourself and you never speak of your family, and also I heard Kakashi say something about an Itachi."

"That is none of your business." Sasuke replied coolly.

"Then don't ask us about our problems." Sango said, walking into the room.

"Then I can just leave," Sasuke replied, about to turn.

"Listen, I can see that you're curious despite the cold act, I'm used to it, so why don't you sit down?" Kagome asked, and Sango blinked.

"Kagome, I really don't understand how you do that sometimes…" she mumbled, shaking her head. Kagome beamed.

"How did I get surrounded by this?" Sasuke muttered, turning back around and staring at the two girls. Sango moved to the other side of Kagome, sitting against the wall. She wore new clothing, now. She had a black tank top on with a pair of long gloves that had no fingers, and a pair of black sweat pants with her katana at her side.

"Well, you're stuck with us," Sango said, looking at Kagome.

"So, Sasuke. You have your own problems, and we have ours. Let's work this out somehow." Kagome began slowly, and Sasuke looked at her with interest.

"What would I possibly want to know about you?" Sasuke asked. Kagome sighed.

"Well, you're the one who asked in the first place," she replied and Sasuke stood still. "Now how about we tell you our story if you tell us ours? If you don't like it then you can just leave now."

"What if I agree?" Sasuke asked.

"Then I suggest you get comfortable, this story's a long one," Kagome replied with a shrug. She knew she shouldn't say anything, nothing to give herself away, she couldn't let this place know about where they were from or else they might not trust her, Sango and Rin. Then they would have no protection.

"Alright, I'll hear you out." Sasuke said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Then you have to tell us about you." Sango stepped in and Sasuke looked at the two absently. Suddenly Rin appeared at the door and she smiled.

"Man! Kakashi sure is absent minded, didn't even care that I left." Rin said, walking into the bedroom and sitting beside Kagome.

"Hey, Rin. How's it going?" Sango asked.

"Fine, Kakashi let me have something to eat and then left to a room, so I decided to leave. Took me a while to get directions here." Rin said with a tired sigh. "Some people here, I swear, they're way too on their guard."

"It's a ninja village, what do you expect?" Sasuke asked and Kagome watched him as he pushed himself off the wall. "I'm not interested in your story, I'll see you later." He said and left. Kagome sighed, and fell back on the bed, closing her eyes.

"I'd better get back to Kakashi's. I'll see you guys later," Rin said, getting up. Kagome stopped her.

"Hey, Rin? How is Kakashi?" Kagome asked.

"He's fine, all he does is sit in his room and read or go somewhere." Rin said with a shrug, "He's usually gone though. I remember him saying something about Jiraiya and the bath house…" she mumbled and Sasuke sweat dropped as he heard them from the hall and walked back.

"That hentai…" Sasuke whispered.

"Why? What's so bad about a bath house?" Sango asked.

"I think she heard _brothel."_ Sasuke said, and the three girls fell to the floor, anime style. "Well, I'm going to train." He said, getting up and leaving, hands in pockets as his eyes remained unreadable. Kagome stared at him as he left, sitting on the bed, and felt a shiver go down her spine. '_I don't know how, but he reminds me so much of InuYasha…maybe it's the arrogance and stubbornness…'_

"Well…you learn new things every day." She heard him whisper as he walked through the hall. She smiled softly and watched Rin leave through the door right after him, and watched Sango leave to her own room with Kirara. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, going into a deep sleep.

"_Daddy! I'm back from Gii-Chan's!" but there was no one to welcome the young girl as she walked into the shrine's main house._

End Chapter


	4. Training

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or InuYasha

Chapter 4: Training

Kagome had learned that getting in Sasuke's way was a bad idea very quickly. Despite the way he acted yesterday, he was now cold and emotionless yet again. Kagome and Sango made breakfast every morning, and Sasuke ate it silently then left, Sango and Kagome always staying and hanging around the house, bored.

That was, of course, until the third day. Kagome stirred the porridge in the pot and Sango checked on the bacon while scrambling the eggs. Kagome then began chopping up more fruit for a fruit salad. After a while, they brought the plates out and put the bacon, eggs and fruit salad on them, then grabbed bowls and put porridge in them, adding milk and brown sugar.

Just as they set the breakfast down Sasuke came into the kitchen and looked at the table. "Why do you always make breakfast?" he asked and they both shrugged.

"Because, we actually eat properly, and we need to do something." Sango said.

"We're getting bored sitting around here." Kagome added.

"You can come with me if you want," Sasuke replied. "You don't have to stay here."

"We…can?" Kagome asked, and he looked at her like she had two heads.

"I can't control what you do." He replied, and she blushed looking down. "Let's just eat, we'll leave after."

"Right!" Kagome said, nodding. They sat down, Sasuke once again eating silently while Sango and Kagome chatted about various things, avoiding any topic from the feudal era.

"Hey, I wonder how Rin's doing?" Sango asked suddenly and Sasuke looked up.

"She comes with Kakashi every day. I swear, it's like she became his new daughter." He said, and Kagome suddenly felt jealous towards Rin. She didn't know why, so she just pushed the thought back.

"Really? I wonder why she didn't tell us…" Sango mumbled.

"Too busy with Sakura. She's learning the way of the ninja, she's a pretty good fighter too. She always learns every thing quickly, and she's very good with the swords." Sasuke mumbled, taking another bite.

"Swords?" Sango asked, emphasizing the s.

"Yeah, she uses two." Sasuke replied. He looked at Kagome and down at her waist, where the Tetsusaiga hung. "Do you use a sword?" he asked, gesturing towards it.

"Oh, no, it's InuYasha's…" Kagome replied sighing. "It transformed into a fang whenever he pulled it out, otherwise it's just a rusty old sword. I don't know why it appeared around my waist."

"Maybe the Tetsusaiga wants to protect you," Sango said. "I mean, you could be its next owner seeming as both of the brothers are dead and there is no more of their family."

"Yeah, but I can't transform it." Kagome replied.

"You should try. From what I've seen you haven't even pulled it out of its sheath." Sasuke said, trying to ignore the curiosity of this InuYasha character and what they were talking about, and Kagome sighed.

"What's the point? It wont do anything, I was the one who took it out of the stone, it didn't transform then." Kagome said.

"Well, I think you should try, so I'm gunna go with Sasuke on this one." Sango said, and Kagome sighed. She got up and put her dish in the sink now that it was empty, and then went outside, waiting for the two to finish. As she waited, she looked down at the handle of the sword, and glared at it, then rolled her eyes.

"This is so stupid…" she mumbled, pulling it out effortlessly. But what she wasn't expecting was for the yellow glow as the sword changed into the legendary fang that was surprisingly easy for her to hold. She stared at it, realizing it wasn't even heavy. _'InuYasha…' _she thought. Sango and Sasuke came through the door and saw the fang, and Sango smiled.

"You see!" she yelled. "I told you!" she teased, while Sasuke stared at the blade in shock.

"When you said fang, I thought you meant normal sized sword that was made out of a fang. Not that…" he said, and Kagome giggled.

"Well, Sasuke, I guess you were right. Thanks, you two." She said, "Let's go see Rin and the others."

"Right!" Sango said, nodding her head. Sasuke just fallowed behind the two girls silently after Kagome put the blade back in the sheath, and it returned to normal as it was put in.

("…")

"I think we're lost…" Kagome said finally in defeat. Sango sighed and sat on the railing of the bridge they were on, going to another building. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"This wouldn't be such a hassle if you two would just listen and fallow me." He stated boredly and the two girls glared at him.

"And you know the way from here?" Kagome demanded.

"No, but let me look," he replied and suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the roof. Kagome rolled her eyes, an illusion, moving at the speed of light, probably one of the more simple jutsus. He seemed to be looking when Kagome stood up on the railing and jumped onto a pole above her, climbing it. Sango rolled her eyes from below.

"Kagome, why are you doing this now?" she called as she watched Kagome walk along the pole, not looking down at the solid ground that was probably already a good twenty feet away just from the bridge. Kagome just rolled her eyes at Sango and continued to walk, hopping up onto another pole and swinging on it, then jumped to another pole not far off.

This reminded Kagome of Souta's video game Prince Of Persia. She gave another leap with her arms to the next pole, steadily moving closer to the roof Sasuke was on. She finally reached it after climbing a couple poles and she walked along the roof and tapped Sasuke on the shoulder, who turned and stared at the unexpected girl. He looked down at the bridge and the way he himself got up.

"How'd you do that?" he asked.

"The same way you did, just without going light speed." Kagome said with a shrug. "I'm a fast examiner, I saw the obstacle course."

"What about Sango?" Sasuke asked.

"Here," Sango replied, on the other side of Sasuke. "I can't just let Kagome have all the fun, now can I?" she asked innocently and Sasuke glared suspiciously at the girl.

"Let's go, it's this way," he mumbled, walking forward on the roof. Kagome blinked.

"You'd better not ditch us with more jutsus unless you intend on teaching us them!" Kagome shouted and Sasuke froze, turning to them.

"I'm supposed to teach you what?" he asked, looking surprised. Kagome smirked.

"You heard me mister I'm-the-best." Kagome challenged, crossing her arms. Sasuke glared. This was unexpected, but it would pass the time. Kakashi wouldn't arrive for another few hours at the place, anyways, so might as well make some use of the time.

("...")

Naruto sighed, bored. Why did Kakashi always have to take so long? He heard Rin as she hummed a song under her breath, looking sad. He looked at her closely. "Why're you so sad?" he asked and Rin sighed softly. She knew she couldn't tell Naruto what had happened.

"Nothing, just a song one of the people I traveled with used to get annoyed by whenever I sang it." Rin said with a shrug. "I met up with Kagome a while ago, but our group lost a fight to the death, we barely escaped with our lives."

"Oh…" Sakura said, looking at Rin with sadness in her eyes. "That's terrible," she whispered.

"That's how we came here," Rin said with a shrug. She might as well at least tell them some of the truth, she was just going around the well part and where they actually came from. Nothing horrible.

"I'm sorry about your loss," Naruto admitted and Rin smiled softly at the boy.

"It's fine, really." She whispered, but she stopped herself from saying something else as she felt eyes watching them. She turned, looking into the bushes. "Someone's here…"

"Huh?" Sakura asked. "How do you know?"

"Shhh!" Rin hushed. Sakura shut up, and Naruto pulled out a kunai, looking on guard. Rin felt a strange shiver down her spine, and suddenly it was gone. She let herself relax a little. "He must've seen us on our guard," she whispered. "He's gone…for now."

"How do you know it was a he?" Sakura demanded, looking slightly offended.

"Hey, don't forget I'm a girl, too. I could just tell, call it instincts." Rin said with a shrug and Sakura stared at her suspiciously.

("...")

Sasuke stared at Kagome. He had never seen such energy come from one person, and had never seen visible chakra before. But was it even chakra?

"What is that glow around her?" Sasuke asked Sango, who watched Kagome carefully.

"Uh…" Sango paused, then looked at Kagome, who let her energy down and looked at Sango.

"What is it?" she asked.

"He wants to know why you were glowing," Sango replied slowly.

"Oh…" Kagome said slowly, and she turned around. "Oh…well…"

"Oh no…" Sango mumbled. "She's going to tell…"

"Sasuke? Do you know what a miko is?" Kagome asked, turning back around.

"A priestess with spiritual powers." Sasuke replied and Kagome sighed. "They're a legend from a different dimension or something like that." That, of course, made Kagome freeze, and she laughed nervously.

"Well then, I guess that's a lie now." She said, smiling. He blinked, then realization hit him and he stared in shock at her.

"You're a miko?" he asked slowly and Kagome smiled meekly.

"You got it, buster," she said. "Now…I think I have this bloody thing down, you Sango?"

"Yeah, pretty sure." Sango said with a small nod. They focused their chakra, something that had been hard to do but they were taught quickly, and they did the hand signs needed then suddenly ran off in a blink of the eye. Sasuke sighed and fallowed after them.

Sasuke, Kagome and Sango arrived seconds before Kakashi, who appeared in a puff of smoke. He glanced around him and looked at Sango and Kagome. "So we have two more…"

"We just found out how to control chakra." Kagome said. "We arrived just before you did, which by the way is about four hours late…"

"Heh…" Kakashi began slowly. "Well, you see, I needed to help an old lady across the street while at the same time fighting off evil Shinobi…" he continued making excuses while Kagome sighed.

"Shut your trap hole," she snapped and Kakashi stopped, staring at Kagome.

"Excuse me…?" he asked slowly and Kagome smirked.

"You heard me." She replied. Sasuke saw the danger ahead of them and sighed.

"Kagome and Sango were able to use their chakra supremely fast for beginners. In two hours they achieved something that takes a full day." He stated boredly and Kakashi looked at him, then at the two girls.

"Good, then there should be no problem teaching them everything we know within the next couple of months, because we might just need them for something coming up." Kakashi said and they all looked at him suspiciously.

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. Kakashi glanced at him.

"Sorry, top secret." He said, grinning behind his mask. Every one sweat dropped at the sensei who had once again pulled out the orange book. Kagome glared at the book suspiciously.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked slowly. He glanced at her, but continued to read. "What's that book about…?"

"None of your business," Kakashi replied.

"It's a hentai book, I was able to see what he was reading a few years ago when we were first a team." Naruto claimed and Kagome sweat dropped. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and leaned against a tree. Sakura mumbled something under her breath and Rin, Sango and Naruto waited for Kagome's reaction.

"Hentai…of course…" she growled. She sighed and turned around, punching a tree, putting her miko energy into it. The tree melted slightly at the base and a huge dent was created. The tree looked like it was about to fall over. Kakashi looked up from his book and examined the dent.

"Interesting way to let anger out for a miko," he muttered and Kagome turned, glaring.

"How'd you know?" Kagome demanded.

"Even though they say it's a legend, I have met a miko once before." Kakashi said, "She was a great warrior, and a guardian to this village. I was only 6, but she treated me with great care and brought me somewhere after I grew older."

"I don't think I want to know the rest…" Rin mumbled and Kakashi shrugged.

"If you wish, but it was nothing at all naughty. I didn't like her that way, although she was beautiful and had a perfect body. But it's your loss, cant go back on your word now." Kakashi said with a shrug and Kagome grumbled.

"Fine, whatever." Kagome stated. "Hmph…" she unconsciously let her hand wander up to the now complete jewel, fingering it through the fabric, unfortunately Sasuke noticed, but he didn't say anything. Sango seemed to get irritated at the tree for it not falling over as it swayed back and forth with the wind but never fell.

"That's it!" she snapped, and grabbed her Hiraikotsu from her back and threw it at the tree, causing it to tumble backwards into the rest of the trees as Hiraikotsu came back to Sango. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stared at her as she sighed contently, slinging the boomerang bone back over her shoulder and brushing herself off.

"She's scary…" Naruto mumbled over to Sakura, who sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Naruto, shut up." She stated and Naruto shrugged.

"Whatever…" he replied. Sakura raised an eyebrow. Why was he giving up so easily? She shrugged, might as well enjoy it while it lasted. She didn't notice, however, how Naruto was making faces at her behind her back. This, of course, caused the three girls to start laughing and Sakura to be highly confused. She turned to find Naruto was just whistling softly with his hands behind his back, eyes closed.

"Hn…" she mumbled. Kagome sighed irritably.

"Sorry to interrupt your reading, Kakashi-sensei, but the people here came to train, not to sit and watch you read that stupid book." Kagome said thickly. Naruto suddenly sat up, looking surprised at something.

"I just remembered the Chuunin Exams are coming up around the time that Kakashi-sensei said we had to do something!" he yelled and Sasuke looked up, interested, while Sakura sighed.

"We'll be back before the Chuunin exams, they've been held off for another month for reasons you cannot know." Kakashi said simply. Naruto blinked.

"Does all of this have to do with a mission?" he asked and Kakashi sighed.

"Obviously, Naruto. Now, as for training Kagome-sama, you can start by learning simple jutsus from Sakura. Once you have all of them down, come back to me and I'll tell you what to do next, but it should take about a week even for a fast learner, that's how long it took Rin. She's training with Naruto now, as will you when you're finished, then you'll train with Sasuke. After that, I'll teach you more." Kakashi stated. And so training started…long, vigorous training…

End Chapter


	5. Shippou

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or InuYasha

Chapter 5: Shippou

_Golden eyes stared into hers as he took his last breaths. "Kagome…don't be sad…I hate to see you…cry." He whispered, and she was trying to hold back the tears as she gave dry sobs. He dragged his hand up and stroked her face. "My wish…for the Shikon no Tama…would be for all of us to be together again one day, and to have a second chance, no matter where or when."_

"_I promise…" Kagome whispered and watched as he was suddenly limp, a soft smile on his once rough now tired and relaxed looking face. She stared down at him, then got up, leaving the body. "I'll see you again some day, InuYasha."_

Kagome awoke with a start, "InuYasha!" she cried and she breathed heavily. She looked around, but was only met with the same roomshe had been living in for the past month. Training had been hard on her that day, so maybe that was why she was suddenly so tired. She tried hard to remember her dream, but couldn't, all she remembered were those golden eyes.

"Kagome?" a whisper came from the door. She looked over to find Sasuke and felt the heat rush to her face.

"Uh…" she began.

"Are you ok?" he asked, leaning against the doorway. She didn't know why, but Sasuke always seemed to be there when she was sad and somehow made her feel better. It sounded silly to her.

"I'm…fine. Just a bad dream," she whispered and sighed, laying back down on her side. "Thanks for the concern."

"I was just going downstairs for a snack and I heard you," he replied and Kagome smiled. Of course, always an excuse. Suddenly, her stomach groaned and she laughed.

"Mind if I come with?"

"Fine by me," he mumbled in return and she got up, smiling as she walked out the door into the hall with him. She was in her black pajamas, a pair of baggy black pants made of that strange, soft and shiny material and a tank top that was of the same make. Was it polyester…? She couldn't remember. But Naruto had given them to her as a gift not long ago.

"So, why aren't you sleeping?" Kagome asked.

"Same reason you cant." Was all he said and Kagome sighed. Always so simple and finding ways to avoid things. Well, anything that wasn't a challenge or a fight.

"C'mon, Sasuke." She pouted, and he glanced at her. His eyes seemed to soften for a second but he turned away before she could fully register it.

"I was having a bad dream, that's all." He said simply and she smiled softly. She didn't know why, but she took his hand, smiling at him as he looked at her with wide eyes. There was a small blush appearing on his face and she giggled.

"Alright mister tough guy, whatever you say," she said with a shrug and they walked down to the kitchen hand in hand, Sasuke still staring at her with astonishment.

Kagome grabbed a kunai out of her blue pocket that was strapped at the side of the outfit she had gotten when she first came here, and she threw it at the practice dummy after entering some of her miko energy into it, and before it even hit it the dummy was getting a dent in it, burning. The kunai went right through it and all of its chest burned in a blue fire, and she smiled in triumph.

But before she could do anything a Shruikan headed her way and she unsheathed Tetsusaiga so quickly that even she was amazed by herself, and she blocked it with the huge fang.

"That's not fair! That weapon is huge!" she heard Naruto complain and she rolled her eyes, he was such a baby.

"Deal with it Naruto." Was all Sakura said, rolling her eyes. She smiled at Kagome. "That weapon is amazing, Naruto only wants it for himself, that's all."

"Oh, don't worry about it." _I've seen hundreds who wanted this sword…and one of them is dead…_

"See!" Naruto snapped, sticking his tongue out. Kagome giggled, but despite the fact that he was so immature for his age, he was an amazing fighter. He almost matched Sasuke, and Sakura was past both of them when it came to chakra control and was probably the best medic-nin around, even though she still didn't have her license because they hadn't past the chuunin exams (because of Sasuke).

"Oh, shut up," Sakura mumbled, rolling her eyes. Sango sighed as she walked up to them, boomerang bone on her back with Kakashi behind her.

"Ugh…this training is sickening." She mumbled and Kagome smiled. They had both reached the third part of training, AKA Sasuke. Naruto only taught them how to use slightly more complicated jutsus and how to throw kunai and Shruikan, and after that they had moved on to Sasuke, but Sango was having troubles and decided chakra was not her thing, going straight to Kakashi so he could train her on more physical things.

"Well, you're the one who skipped ahead," was all Kagome said as she walked over to a tree and plopped herself down after sheathing the Tetsusaiga. She wondered what InuYasha would think of all this work and how strange this world was.

"Hn, I miss Kohaku…" Rin whispered as she sat beside Kagome. Sango froze, and she looked away. Rin blushed. "Sorry, Sango-chan, I didn't mean to."

"It's fine…" Sango whispered and sat down. "We cannot help the past." The three girls sat there, watching as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura did their own training with Kakashi, and Kagome was just about to try and fall asleep for a short nap when she heard something. Her eyes snapped open and she hushed the two girls beside her. They looked at her and listened carefully.

"What is that…?" Rin whispered as she, too, heard the rustling of leaves. There was a grunt, and then a moan of pain. Kagome immediately recognized it, and her eyes were wide. She got up and ran, as fast as her tired legs would bring her, to where she had heard it. It wasn't far from the camp, and she saw him there, laying in the dirt.

The orange, fluffy tail was the first thing she saw. Then she saw the boy, his red mop of hair on top of his head, but he was older. Or at least he looked it. It was like Rin, but he was in the body of what looked like a twelve or thirteen year old. So he had finally grown from his tiny state… his emerald green eyes were closed, clenched shut in pain from the looks of it.

He wore not the usual blue kimono and the fire-fox vest, but a pair of baggy black sweats with bandages around the ankles and a black netted T-shirt with a black muscle shirt underneath. Kagome burst forward and picked him up with her new strength. He seemed light to her, but her muscles were still slightly tired from the day's work. She looked out to the setting sun.

"Holy shit…" Sango whispered, staring at the boy. His eyes opened barely and he stared up at Kagome.

"Kago…me…" he whispered. She smiled softly down at him, emotion pouring through her eyes. How had he gotten here? She would ask questions when he was better, but right now he seemed to be hurt. She ran back to the training field and set him down, calling Sakura. The girl rushed over and stared at the young boy.

"Who is he…?" she whispered, but noted the worried look in Kagome's face and leaned down, searching his body for injuries. She finally found it, the blood was seeping through the black shirt as she turned him over and Kagome finally looked at herself. She had blood all over her arms and on her shirt. Sakura took the shirt off the boy carefully, pulling it over his head. He had a deep gash in his back.

"Shippou…" Kagome whispered, horror in her eyes. She looked at Sakura, who was trying to identify the wound and approaching the best way to heal it. Kagome took a deep breath and quickly examined the wound. That was when she saw it, just a small hint, but it was there. Just the smallest hint of metal. How did it get there? Why would metal leave a mark?

"It was made by a Shuriken, a rusty one too." Sakura whispered and Kagome shrugged mentally. There was the answer. "I don't know if I can cure it, but I can disinfect it," Sakura mumbled and ran her hand a centimeter above the wound, and the redness around it dimmed a bit and all hints of metal left. Kagome nodded.

"I'll do the rest." Kagome whispered and Sakura stared in shock at the girl.

"How?" she asked.

"Miko's can do unbelievable things," was all Kagome said as her hands glowed blue as she touched the wound lightly, watching as it cured itself. Sakura watched in pure amazement while Rin and Sango waited in anticipation. Kagome gasped as she pulled away, wound fully healed, and panted for breath, collapsing to the ground. Sweat beaded off her forehead and her eyes were closed with tiredness.

"Kagome?" Sango whispered. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired. It can take a lot of energy out of you to do such a task." Kagome whispered. She couldn't use her voice right now, it would be too much energy. She looked at Sakura's astonished expression just as Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi made their way over. They saw the blood everywhere and looked at the topless boy, who seemed to be stirring. He must have fallen unconscious in Kagome's arms.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, eyebrow raised.

"I don't know…" Kagome replied, sitting up. She could feel the energy coming back to her.

"Why are you covered in blood? Who's the kid?" Naruto asked.

"He was wounded," Kagome mumbled. "I had to cure him." Suddenly, she felt supremely light headed, and that energy she had just felt suddenly left as she stood on wobbly legs. She fell, but before she made impact with the ground warm arms wrapped around her. _'InuYasha…? No…Sasuke.'_

She thought. She was lifted into his arms bridal style, and she could feel him walking as she let the blackness consume her.

"Ugh…my head…" Kagome groaned, sitting up. Bad idea. She watched as the blankets fell from her upper body, revealing her bare chest. She picked the blanket up and wrapped it back around her torso and chest, looking around to find Sasuke blushing and turning around. She blushed deeply and noticed Sango not far off, watching the two with amusement.

"Hey, Kags. You've been out for about three hours, we got your clothes washed now." She said, pointing to the neatly folded clothes. Kagome nodded and watched as Sango walked up to Sasuke and dragged him by the ear out the door, and she giggled at his yelping and protesting. She got up and changed into her clothes, smelling the fresh fabric.

"Ok!" she called, and Sango walked back in with a red eared Sasuke, who was looking extremely moody now. Kagome smiled at him and he huffed, and she felt a small pang in her heart. Why was he so much like InuYasha? That name seemed to come up a lot lately. Then it suddenly dawned on her and she hit herself on the forehead.

"Kagome…?" Sango said slowly.

"How's Shippou?" Kagome asked, looking worried. Sango gave a small look of understanding and she pointed to her left.

"The room next to yours," she said. Kagome nodded in thanks and rushed out of the room, going into the dark room, the only light coming from the half closed blinds. She found Shippou laying on the four-post bed, sleeping softly with a small amount of sweat on his forehead from the heat of the room. Kagome left to the window and opened it, letting the cool breeze greet her.

"Shippou…" she whispered, sitting next to the bed on a stool. She stared at the sleeping boy, his lips slightly parted, and his eyes closed softly, his face calm and peaceful. The blankets were under him, and he had a pair of sweat pants on, most likely Sasuke's old ones. She leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair from his face, stroking his cheek. It was a face she thought she would never see again.

"Kagome…" the boy whispered out, his eyes suddenly scrunched, his face becoming twisted with pain. "Don't leave…"

"I'm right here, Shippou." Kagome whispered, tears in her eyes. He began to stir, and his eyes slowly opened. Their eyes met, and he looked supremely confused.

"Am I dead…?" he asked.

"No, silly," Kagome whispered, giggling softly.

"I thought you died…" he mumbled. His voice was slightly deeper, too.

"No, I jumped into the well with Rin and Sango, we escaped, and thought you were dead." Kagome replied in a whisper, aware of the people in the huge mansion who might be listening.

"Where are we?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is running away from Naraku and then suddenly getting engulfed by purple flames and appearing in some forest, and somebody threw something at me and I dodged it and used fox-fire, and it was so much bigger and stronger, too! I was taller, and I caused the blade to rust somehow, don't ask me how, and then I tried to run but the blade came back and hit me in the back."

"Oh…" Kagome whispered. She looked around and found his new clothes freshly washed and neatly folded just like hers. "Get dressed and we can talk some more, I want to know what happened." She said and left. As soon as she heard the ok she came back into the room. The sweatpants he had been using were on the floor and he wore the same clothing she had found him in.

"InuYasha died, and Kikyou took his body." Shippou said as she sat down on the bed beside him. "Miroku was sucked in by the wind tunnel and brought Kagura and Kanna with him. SesshouMaru died because of Naraku, and Jaken ran. I didn't know where you were, so I ran blindly. I ended up back in Kaede's village. Naraku passed through but he didn't even care about us.

"We were safe for about a month and every day we looked for you, eventually we assumed you and Sango and Rin disappeared beyond the well with the complete jewel and were unable to return, so we lived peacefully for about a week, but we never stopped mourning the deaths and made burial sites for the remains of you all, after we found Kikyou with InuYasha's body dead.

"Then Naraku came. He destroyed everything, there were no survivors, and then he chased me and that was when I disappeared in the strange flames." Shippou said, finishing.

"I thought you died," Kagome whispered, hugging him. He hugged her back, and both enjoyed the warmth of each other after longing for it for the past month. Shippou had started to cry, and Kagome wiped the tears away. "Hey, it's ok. Everything's fine, we're going to start over, ok?"

"Alright…" Shippou whispered, looking down. "Could you…explain?"

"Yeah," Kagome said with a small smile. And so she began what was actually a very long story and explained chakra and jutsus and actually tried to teach him a little, and by the time he had finally managed control it was sunset.

"Alright, Shippou. C'mon, let's go see the others," Kagome whispered, taking his hand. They walked through the halls, and Kagome felt so strange holding his hand now that he was almost as tall as her. She brought him downstairs and into the kitchen, where she found Naruto, Sango, Sakura and Rin eating ramen and Sasuke watching them while sipping at tea. They all looked up as she entered the room.

"Kagome! Shippou!" Rin squealed and burst forward. She hugged Shippou tightly, who blushed and hugged her back. Sango gave a soft smile and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stared at the strange boy.

"Guys, this is Shippou. Shippou, this is Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. I don't know where Kakashi-sensei is so I can't introduce him to you." Kagome said, pointing to the three. Shippou gave a shy wave and Kagome grinned.

"He's a kitsune," Naruto blurted.

"Yeah, so? What of it?" Shippou snapped, looking irritated. "Don't tell me your another person who despises demons…I still remember that girl Nazuna…"

"Shippou, he was just pointing it out," Kagome said with a roll of the eyes. Shippou blushed and mumbled something.

"Somehow…I think we'll make good friends," Naruto whispered, watching the boy. Shippou watched Naruto closely and seemed to sniff the air and he went wide eyed.

"Kyuubi…" Shippou whispered and Naruto stared. "You know, I think you're right." Shippou said with a grin. Kagome raised an eyebrow at the two, then shrugged.

"I'll just take this strange mental understanding you two have of each other as a good sign," she mumbled. Sango and Rin sweat dropped.

End Chapter


	6. Staring Your Past Right In The Face

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 6: Staring Your Past Right In The Face

Sasuke wasn't sure how it happened, one moment he was arguing with Naruto and the next a fearful Kagome came into view with Shippou right behind her. It had only been a couple of days since the strange kitsune appeared, but he seemed so relaxed that it was like he had been there for months. He never seemed to leave Kagome's side.

"Sasuke! Naruto!" Kagome yelled as she stopped in front of them. "Come quickly…I don't know what it is…" she whispered and took their hands, dragging to red-faced boys behind her as she led them somewhere. Shippou seemed to be ushering them to go faster, and after about five minutes they reached their destination.

"What the…" Naruto mumbled as he stared at the scene. Sasuke went wide eyed as he looked at the area. It looked almost as if Kakashi had used his lightning strike move. Every thing was black and smoky, and Rin was coughing while waving her hand in front of her face, Kakashi sighing beside her, also covered in black smoke.

"Oh…" Kagome said slowly. "Heh, I saw an explosion in the forest and I didn't know what it was…gomen nesai…" she mumbled to the two boys. Naruto grinned.

"That's ok, you didn't mean to." He said, and Kagome smiled at him. Sasuke just shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, at least you came to get us rather than checking it out on your own with no one to help you if things got bad." He said, and Kakashi chuckled.

"I think she got that from you," he said and Kagome laughed. She looked over at Shippou, who was poking Rin's face, which was covered in black. The girl swatted his hand away, making a face, and he laughed at her.

"What're you doing, trying to make yourself explode?" he asked and Rin glared at him.

"No," she snapped. "I'm trying to learn a technique."

"No need to get so angry," Shippou mumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. Rin rolled her eyes.

"Then don't say stupid things that will get me angry," she replied matter-of-factly. Shippou huffed.

"Of course, your highness." He retorted and Rin twitched.

"Shut up…" she mumbled.

"Yes ma'am." He said, saluting her, and Kagome rolled her eyes.

"All right you two, break it up. Let's just forget this ever happened, ok?" She mumbled, shaking her head. "I don't think this'll end if we don't."

"Hey!" Shippou yelled defensively, crossing his arms. Naruto watched the two with wide eyes.

"They're worse than me and you, Sasuke!" Naruto joked and Kagome chuckled.

"He's right," Sakura said with a small shrug and Kagome burst out laughing.

"That's not fair!" Shippou mumbled under his breath. Kagome sighed as she stopped laughing, shaking her head as she wiped the small tears from her eyes.

"Ah, you two are so funny." She mumbled, shaking her head. "Well, let's go train, I don't feel like standing around and doing nothing right now."

"Right!" Naruto said, throwing a fist in the air, and the others sighed.

"Alright, Sakura you're still teaching Shippou right?" Kagome asked, turning.

"Yeah, it's going to be another little while before he can get most of the things down so don't expect him to be finished any time soon." Sakura replied and Shippou sighed. "Hey, little guy, it's fine, it takes a while. You should be in the academy, though, not here…"

"No, it's fine, I just like to take my time so I don't make mistakes," Shippou said with a grin. Sakura chuckled.

"Alright." She said with a shrug and realized they had been walking for a while.

"Ok, Kagome, come with me." Sasuke said as they reached the original training area. Rin and Sango disappeared with Kakashi to do their own training, and Naruto left to do his won by himself while Sakura occupied herself with Shippou.

("…")

"Ok…" Kagome whispered, doing the said hand signs that Sasuke was giving her. She watched as her hands grew red slightly and she smirked, putting a little more energy into it. She picked up a kunai as fast as lightning and threw it at a nearby tree, one with a red and white target on it, and watched as the kunai was engulfed in flames and hit the center of the target. Kagome cheered.

"Good work…" Sasuke said simply, leaning against a tree. This was simpler than he had thought. He watched as Kagome did it again to another target, but froze when he heard an unwanted sound. There was a twig snapping, and Kagome was still standing still, and it was too close for any of the others to do it.

"Eh…?" Kagome whispered, who had obviously heard it as well. How had she? He hadn't trained her that yet, in fact that was Kakashi's job, suddenly, he was very curious about her past.

"Hey, guys, did you see where-" Rin was walking towards them, but a kunai flew at her and she screeched, eyes wide, and Sasuke quickly summoned his chakra and did the hand signs quickly, appearing in front of Rin and pulling her out of the way just in time. Kagome stared in shock at how quick he had gone.

"Get down!" Sasuke yelled from the ground and Kagome immediately did as told. She had just barely dodged another kunai. She screeched as someone jumped out from the bushes, but it wasn't real, she realized, rather a doppelganger. She glared and stood up, putting a barrier around her with her miko energy as she had been taught by Kaede. She drew a kunai and threw it at the figure, watching as it turned into a puff of smoke.

"Kagome!" Rin yelled out and she turned, finding a Shuriken headed for her. She closed her eyes and put a little more energy into the barrier, and when she opened them again she found the shuriken on the ground and she sighed in relief. She looked around, trying to find where the attack went. It came from in front from when she turned, but the person could have easily moved by now.

"Beside you!" Sasuke yelled and Kagome turned, finding a black blur rushing at her. She dove forward, skidding on the ground slightly and watching as the figure did not stop, but went straight for the now standing Sasuke, who had a dangerous look in his eye. "What do you want?" he asked, as the figure stopped before him.

He had onyx hair, darker than Sasuke's and without the blue tint. His eyes were red, a deep penetrating red with a strange design like three raindrops in a circle in the middle instead of pupils. Hadn't that been called the Sharingan? His black hair was cut short, and looked like it had been done recently, but it came to the nape of his neck, with long bangs that went in his slightly sunken face.

He wore a black robe with red clouds running along it, and when he moved you could see the black sweats he wore, bandages around the ankles and black sandals. On his forehead was a forehead protector with a scratch through the middle of the Konoha leaf, which Kagome now knew meant missing nin. She could only guess that he wore a black T-shirt with a net T-shirt over it under the cloak. It was revealed correct as he took it off, throwing it to the ground.

"Ah, little brother has grown. Why did you run away from the village with that blond freak?" the man asked. He didn't look very old, maybe eighteen. Kagome watched as Sasuke glared at him, a deadly gaze in his eyes. "Has the curse mark been bothering you at all?"

"No, something is keeping it at bay," Sasuke whispered so quietly Kagome barely heard it. Rin was slowly sitting up, holding a bleeding gash on her elbow from a rock she had landed on. The man glanced at her and returned his attention to Sasuke. "Stay away from her," Sasuke said slowly, Kagome wondered why. She couldn't see the man's eyes.

"Why? Do you like her?" the man asked, and Sasuke seemed be holding back a laugh.

"What makes you think that, brother?" Sasuke asked coldly. Kagome gasped, and that was when she realized what the man had said earlier.

"…_It's not that hard to see that you have no family, why else would you have a huge house all to yourself and you never speak of your family, and also I heard Kakashi say something about an Itachi."_

"_That is none of your business." Sasuke replied coolly. _

'_Is this Itachi?' _Kagome thought, watching the two. _'Well, that's a pretty wild guess, but Sasuke had that same look in his eyes at the mention of that name as he does now, though right now it seems stronger. But why against his own brother?'_ Kagome was very highly confused as she watched the two in their silent war.

("???")

Sasuke watched Itachi as he glanced at the girl again, and saw the devious look in his eyes. Why would he want Rin? Did he actually believe that Sasuke liked her? He glanced at Kagome before realizing his mistake and kept his gaze hard on Itachi. From what he had seen, Kagome was confused. That made him chuckle.

"What's so funny, little brother?" Itachi asked and Sasuke just remained cool.

"None of your business, you could call it an inside joke," he replied softly. Now, what he wanted to do was grab one of the swords at Rin's side and drive it through Itachi's heart and then chop his head off and post it on his bedroom wall, but the girls were in danger here. He didn't know why he cared, but for once he didn't want them to get hurt because of him, yet he didn't care back with Naruto and Sakura four years ago.

Maybe it was because he was more mature, and his brain was able to get some sense into it before acting. The thought made him mentally scowl at himself, and he watched Itachi as he reached for his kunai pocket. Sasuke quickly grabbed his own kunai out of his arm cuffs and threw it. Itachi barely dodged as Sasuke did a flip towards him and quickly made hand signs, appearing behind Itachi and holding a kunai to his brother's throat.

"I win," Sasuke whispered lethally. Itachi just chuckled, causing the blade to cut his throat slightly from the movement.

"No, I do." Was all he said. Sasuke was confused when it suddenly turned into a log. He cursed and looked around. Itachi was not far off, holding Rin by the hair, who was trying to get it back.

"Let go of me you good for nothing, two time jack ass!" she snapped. Sasuke rose an eyebrow, absolutely no sense in her words, but yet she got the point across. Itachi just chuckled lowly.

"Seeming as you seem to think so highly of this girl, I think I will take her along with me." He said, and Rin winced as he pulled her hair hard, causing her to stand up instinctively.

"Rin!" Kagome screamed. Sasuke could have hit his head against a stone wall at that moment. "Let go of her!" Kagome snapped, running up. Sasuke grabbed her wrist and she turned, looking at him with such fearful and hurt eyes that he had a hard time not just letting her go after Itachi. But he knew better.

"Let him go, we'll get her back," Sasuke whispered, and Itachi laughed.

"Ah, so there's two?" he asked.

"No…" Kagome whispered, shaking. "Please, don't take Rin…" she begged and Itachi watched her as she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Sasuke watched her with amazement, and looked away before he tried to comfort her or go after Itachi himself. "Please, anyone but Rin… I promised…"

"Kagome…" Rin whispered, tears going down her own eyes. "I'll be fine, watch over Shippou, ok?"

"Ugh, so sappy, don't you think brother?" Itachi asked, amusement in his voice. Sasuke just scowled at him, he was powerless. He couldn't go after Itachi without hurting Rin in some way, and if Rin got hurt, Kagome would mentally be hurt, which would sometimes be worse than physical, and if anyone knew that he did.

"Leave," was all Sasuke said. Itachi scowled.

"That's no fun," he whispered, then turned. "Fine, if you insist." He said simply and Rin gave a small sob as she walked beside him, her hair still in his grasp. He let it go and took her wrist, dragging her behind him. "I'll be expecting you and your little friends, soon enough." He mumbled before disappearing behind the trees.

"Kagome," Sasuke said, finally turning to the sobbing girl. He kneeled down and held her in his arms. She shook, and threw her arms around him. He stumbled slightly, but was able to keep his balance and he stroked her hair. "It'll be fine, we'll go after them as soon as we can."

"Why didn't you let me get her back?" Kagome whispered.

"I…" Sasuke paused. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"I don't care if I'm hurt! I made a promise to SesshouMaru-sama that I would protect Rin with my life!" Kagome cried, and Sasuke stared down at her.

"…Sama?" he asked slowly.

"Sasuke, please, I need to get her back…" Kagome whispered. "I can't lose another one…"

"I…" Sasuke paused, searching for the right words, but couldn't find them. What was it about this girl that made him speechless and powerless?

"I'm sorry, I must sound so stupid…" Kagome whispered, pulling away and getting up. That was when he noticed the gash on her bare arm.

"What happened?" he asked. She looked down at the cut and blinked.

"Oh, that? Probably just from a kunai." She said with a shrug, wiping away the tears. "I've had much, much worse." She mumbled, looking up at the sky, then she shook her head. "The new moon is soon," she whispered. "I wonder what InuYasha would say to that…" she sighed and walked away, leaving behind a very confused and dazed Sasuke.

("…")

"We have to get her back!" Shippou yelled as he grabbed his head in frustration, pacing the kitchen.

"We can't." Sakura replied. "Not until we know for sure that they're where we think they are."

"How are we going to know that?" Sango asked, bags under her eyes. She looked sad, and every time she looked at Kagome, it was like she shared the pain the said girl was feeling. Kagome was sitting silently, staring at the table, her eyes unfocused, and her hair falling in them and around her face. She didn't seem to be listening to them at all.

"I'll go," Sasuke said suddenly. Every one looked at him. "I'll do it."

"You can't, you idiot!" Naruto snapped, rolling his eyes. "You're a wanted. They still want you, and if you go near Orochimaru again the-" Naruto was silenced by Sasuke's glare. "You now what I'm talking about."

"He has a point," Sakura whispered, looking sad. "Dangerous things will happen if you go near them."

"I'll go."

"Nani…?" Sango stared at Kagome, who looked at all of them.

"These people wont know me, most of the village here doesn't, so what would go wrong?" Kagome asked.

"Itachi knows who you are." Sasuke replied.

"Who cares? I'll remain hidden, and if they find me I'll just say I'm lost and found the village and was curious." Kagome said with a shrug. "If he sees me, I'll make a break for it."

"You wouldn't be able to make it. That many missing nin against one of you, you wouldn't stand a chance." Sakura said.

"You don't know what I've done before." Kagome replied with hard, sad eyes. Sango watched her and closed her eyes softly.

"I'll come with you," she whispered and Kagome smiled at her understandingly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Well how are you going to find it without a guide?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes and leaning against her chair. "Never send a guy to do a girl's job," she said and winked, nudging towards an excited Naruto. Kagome grinned.

"Thank you so much." She said, and got up, moving over to Sakura and hugging her. Naruto looked slightly put down, though.

"Kagome! You're not leaving with out me!" Shippou said, jumping up onto her back. She almost fell forward and she chuckled.

"You can't do that anymore Shippou," she whispered so that the three ninjas wouldn't be able to hear and he mumbled an apology. He got down and Kagome ruffled his hair. "Alright, we leave tomorrow at dawn."

"It would be better if you left a little more in the afternoon, so that you get there when it's dark and you don't have to wait. Remember, always be within the shadows." Sasuke said, watching the three girls.

"Arigatou," Kagome said, giving a small bow. "But answer me one question; why are you enemies with your own brother?"

"Itachi…" Sasuke looked down. "Is a traitor. I will avenge my family and kill him." He whispered, eyes glistening over with hate.

"Man, this day is way overly dramatic…" Kagome murmured and every one laughed.

End Chapter


	7. Savior?

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 7: Savior?

Rin was silent the whole time she was dragged back to some weird village. She watched the people as they eyed her, and some had a hint of jealousy on their faces. Why would they be jealous of her? She was a prisoner, and they were free. A strange thought went through their head that they were wishing they were in her place because of the man dragging her, but it went away quickly.

"Hurry up," he whispered and she glared at him, walking only a little faster.

"I'm going faster," she said with a shrug as he turned and glared at her. He just turned back around, obviously annoyed at her smart ass attitude. She smirked and looked around again, the people here looked hungry, and a few had patched clothing. There were a couple of children sitting on their doorsteps to watch a new prisoner come by, their faces muddy and their clothes patched, skin pale and bags under their young eyes.

"We're almost there," the man said, and she glared at the back of his head. Didn't he say something about his name being Itachi back in the forest when she was still struggling and demanded to know who he was? She shrugged and stuffed her free hand in her pocket.

"You can let go of me, you know. To be logical, I have no idea where we are, and you could get me within seconds seeming as I'm not nearly as highly trained as you, and I really don't feel like running right now," she said with a shrug. He glared at her from the side before letting go of her wrist. She grinned as she rubbed the now bruised area.

"Don't try anything stupid," was all he said as she silently fallowed him. She put her hands into her pockets, her Capri pants rather dirty now. She had taken off her net shirt back in the forest, leaving it behind, because it was starting to irritate her skin. Now she was cold, but she would have been anyways seeming as the shirt was just a whole bunch of holes in her opinion.

"Dammit…this place is too shady…" she mumbled, moving her hands so that she was embracing herself, trying to get warmer.

"You're cold?" Itachi asked, glancing at her with the corner of his eye. She glared at him.

"Obviously, but I'll live, I'm not a wimp." She snapped in reply. She blinked as she suddenly found his cloak around her, and she stared down at it. She was suddenly very warm, and she stared at the now bare armed man. He had his hands in his pockets, and the look on his face, his stride and the way he pretended he didn't care about her at all made her think of SesshouMaru, making her close her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, realizing that a small tear had slipped. "Are you really that emotionally weak?"

"Shut up," Rin replied. "You wouldn't know anything about my past."

"Why so quick to judge?" he asked as he turned into a slightly darker area. There were huts up top of a large, straight cliff about twenty feet high and a path went up it, and there were more huts on the ground. The people here didn't look jealous at all, but rather looked at her with amusement.

"Nice catch, Itachi." One said. Itachi ignored him, and continued on towards the cliff. He began going up the path and Rin stumbled after him, tripping on the overly large jacket. He was about five inches taller than her, so probably 6'2 seeming as she was about 5'9. She sighed as they reached the top of the hill, and he turned, and went through the huts and went to the end of the cliff that surrounded the huts below.

"In here," he said simply, gesturing towards the end hut, and she went inside, looking at the curved cliff one last time. The hut was pretty lame, just a blanket on a small bed, and a few pieces of furniture. No TV, like Kakashi and Sakura, and the kitchen was small. She rose an eyebrow.

"Nice place…" she said slowly. He just grunted and went to the bed, sitting down.

"You can eat whatever you want, I won't be around much." He said simply.

"I don't get it, what happened to cold Itachi?" Rin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who knows, maybe the mask likes to slip sometimes," he said with a shrug, and Rin smiled softly.

"You really do remind me of him…" she whispered. Itachi glanced at her as he flopped down onto his back.

"Who? That idiot brother of mine, Sasuke? What's with you two? Are you together or something?" he asked. Rin chuckled.

"No, of course not. You remind me of someone else, someone who I wished to call father," Rin replied, sitting down on a chair. She seemed to stare into space as she continued. "SesshouMaru-sama was a great youkai, the ruler of his lands, and he hated humans, but yet he found me and brought me back from the dead all because I had seen him before when he was injured and I helped him.

"I fallowed him ever since, I never left his side unless he fought and ordered his little servant Jaken to keep me away from harm. He always tried to hide it behind his cold demeanor, but I saw through it. He thought of me as his daughter, as I thought of him as my father. I was the only human he actually cared for, and I knew it." Rin whispered, and brought her knees to her chest.

"Youkai…?" Itachi asked, and Rin covered her mouth.

"I said too much," she whispered behind her hand and hit herself on the forehead.

"There's youkai in this land?" Itachi asked, sitting up again.

"No," Rin replied. "Not here, somewhere else. I've said too much, now good night," she snapped, curling into a ball on the reclining chair. She could feel Itachi's curious stare on her, but ignored it as she let herself fall into a long wanted sleep.

("...")

Two days had passed, but that seemed to be all the time needed for Itachi and Rin to become friends, though still cold to each other. They usually talked about things with each other, but often argued, and always had snide remarks to everything, and when outside they didn't say a word to each other.

They could often make each other laugh, and Rin found that Itachi really wasn't all that bad, but clouded over with something. He didn't say anything to her about his past, and after her first day neither did she, but it seemed to be better that way, like their pasts would cause something terrible if they told each other. Rin knew this more than he did, because of her own past.

"Oi!" Rin screeched as he tackled her to the bed. "What the hell!" she screeched between giggles. He got off her, laughing. "I wonder what Sasuke would say if he saw you like this," Rin mumbled as she got up. "You probably did the same things with him before whatever the hell you did."

"Well, you disserved it," he replied, crossing his arms. He suddenly looked rather upset.

"Heh, I didn't mean to," she said in reply. She had just tripped over him when coming through the door and had hit him in the head on accident, and in return was the results that had just happened. She sighed, things were strange around here, and it seemed for the first time in a month somebody actually truly understood her.

"Yeah, sure you didn't," was his reply as he plopped himself down onto a couch. She sighed, she had no idea that a guy who looked so heartless could be so…kind and careless. She sighed again and closed her eyes, and smiled as she realized that she had just sighed three times within a minute.

"Hey, Itachi? Why are you so kind to me?" she whispered.

"You remind me of someone…" was his only reply, and she opened an eye to stare at him strangely. He just shrugged. "Someone I knew a long time ago," he said simply. "Someone who actually looked quite a lot like you."

"There's only one person who looks a lot like me that I know, and that's Kagome-chan." Rin said with a shrug.

"She was-" before he could say anything else there was a huge crash and he looked up. He ran outside and cursed, and Rin went after him. The stars shone brightly, and it was the new moon. She stared at the fire going on not far off. What was going on? There was an explosion directly beneath them and Rin jumped back as pieces of rubble came flying.

"What the hell happened?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know," was all Itachi said as he left back into the hut and came back out with his cloak and his kunai pocket wrapped on his thigh, and he had a stern look on his face. "Stay close to me, and don't wander off with your friends if this is their doing."

"Why should I listen to you?" Rin asked.

"Because, it wasn't them I wanted to come, it was my brother. I need to have a nice long…talk with him, and I'm afraid the only way that's going to happen is if I keep you here." Itachi replied softly as they walked down the path. Rin sighed, she might as well, I mean, she could just explain to them the situation and they would hopefully understand, they had experiences with traps.

"Fine," she whispered as she walked beside him at a brisk pace. They came to a stop in front of a hut, and standing at the doorway was someone who strangely reminded Rin of Naraku. Maybe it was the aura…seeming as they looked almost completely different. Well, they both looked slightly feminine but this guy was just freaky, at least Naraku was a bit more…well, nice looking.

His skin was pale and almost had a green tinge to it, like his black oily hair that went down his back, and his snake-like, yellow-green eyes. He had no headband, and he was supremely skinny with a loose kimono top that was a pale green, slightly beige, and dark green sweat pants with black sandals.

"Orochimaru," Itachi said coldly, and Rin realized that Itachi didn't like this man much, either. She watched as they exchanged a few words that she was not listening to, in fact her head was pounding with the thoughts running through it. Maybe it was Kagome, maybe they had come for her, but why such a huge attack?

"It's the Sand village, Gaara sent a small…invitation to us," Itachi whispered as he suddenly pulled her away. She blinked and stared at him.

"Huh…?" she asked dumbly.

"Never mind…c'mon, let's just go back to the hut…" he was obviously going to say more but an explosion came nearby and Rin screamed as she was thrown off her feet and to the ground, where a sharp rock was, and pierced her back right before Itachi grabbed her. He pulled her up and lifted her chin with his forefinger, staring into her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"I'm…" Rin blushed as she pushed herself away from him. "I'm fine," she replied. "That was too close, just so you know…" she mumbled, shivering slightly. "Don't get me wrong, you're a great friend, but I don't like you that way."

"I wasn't saying you were," Itachi replied with an amused look. "I was just simply checking to see if you were about to cry," he said with a shrug and walked away, causing Rin to go wide eyed.

"Hey! I don't cry!" she yelled after him and ran to catch up. "You were trying to do something, mister!" she yelled accusingly. He looked at her with amusement in his eyes.

"No I wasn't," he replied, shaking his head. "Let's go, I don't want to stand around here too long." He said simply and continued walking, this time faster. Her back hurt a lot, but she could deal with it, it probably didn't even break the skin, Itachi had grabbed her too early. What was with her and the rocks? Honestly, even in the feudal era…

They reached the hut not long after. She looked inside to find Kagome and Sango there, and she gasped, and Itachi stood behind her, rather stiff as he stared at the two. They were wearing their usual outfits, their hair the usual way, but something seemed different. Then Rin realized, they were wearing headbands. Two Konoha ones, with a line going through it like Itachi.

"Rin!" Kagome gasped as she saw the girl. She took off the headband and burst forward, hugging the shocked girl. Sango also took hers off, and stared cautiously at Itachi.

"Rin, remember," Itachi whispered and Rin slowly hugged Kagome back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can't go with you," she whispered, and Kagome pulled away, staring at her.

"Who?" she asked.

"You, I can't go. Listen, Itachi is actually an ok guy, all he wants is for Sasuke to come so he can talk to him," Rin said. Kagome stared at her like she had two heads.

"What happened to you? Did he erase your memories or something? Is this a trap? For all I know, Sasuke could come here and Itachi's real intentions are to kill him!" Kagome snapped, glaring at said man. He just smiled at her with dry amusement.

"I do not wish to kill him, Kagome, merely talk with him brother to brother. I have things to tell him." He whispered, and Rin looked down.

"Kagome, he's telling the truth," she whispered. "I don't know how, so don't ask, but I have to stay here for a little while longer."

"But…Rin…" Kagome began slowly. Suddenly Shippou popped his head in and looked at them.

"Kagome, the distraction is only going to last a little longer, hurry up!" he said. Rin recognized him instantly as one of the boys she had seen sitting on a doorstep, and she remembered his fox magic abilities. She was only just now able to recognize him because of his eyes, she could recognize them any day.

"Shippou, get Sakura in here." Kagome whispered, sitting down. Shippou blinked and stared at her, then slowly went back through the door and a couple seconds later he and Sakura walked inside.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Rin's staying here…" Kagome whispered, looking almost more pale than the day Rin had been taken away, the day when Rin had seen Kagome's tears for the first time since _their_ death.

"I have a plan," Sango said, finally speaking up, and every one looked at her. "What if Kagome, Shippou and I stay here?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked, going wide eyed as her name was not mentioned. "I have to go back by myself!" she screeched, looking suddenly very scared and angry.

"I was going to say that way Sakura can make it look like she barely made it out and she'll arrive at the village and say that we're captured, and that way it should get Sasuke and Naruto here." Sango continued.

"But…" Sakura began, looking slightly tearful.

"Or, we can just wait," Kagome said softly. Every one looked at her. "If we don't come back soon, they'll get worried and come after us. They won't even care if they're aloud to or not, either. That way Sakura doesn't have to leave all alone and she won't have to lie either."

"Good plan," Shippou said, leaning on the back of Kagome's chair. "Are you sure it will work?"

"Pretty sure, if there's no sign by a week or so, then we'll go with Sango's plan." Kagome said with a shrug. "Besides, if Sakura doesn't come back soon it'll give the effect that she was just barely able to escape by, let's say, going for a walk with a guard and knocking him out then escaping."

"True, true." Sango said with a shrug, "Let's do it then."

"How are all of these people going to fit in my hut…?" Itachi asked, sighing.

"We can squeeze," replied a cheerful Rin. Every one sighed.

End Chapter


	8. Worried About Something

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 8: Worried About Something

"Don't be so stressed."

"They shouldn't be taking this long."

"You should stop pacing, it's bad for a person to pace too much."

"No it's not."

"For you it is, because it is making me go insane and I might just have to stop you personally and painfully."

"Shut up…"

"I am the Kazekage, I don't have to shut up. Besides, why are you so worried about a bunch of girls?" ice green, blank eyes that were surrounded by black stared into Sasuke's as he stopped suddenly. The red brown hair of Gaara Of The Sand shifted slightly as Gaara leaned back in his chair to watch Sasuke carefully. The tattoo on his forehead that symbolized love seemed to stand out more than ever for some unknown reason.

"You're too pale, you know that?" Naruto cut in, and Sasuke jumped slightly, watching as the blond shut the shoji doors quietly. Gaara chuckled slightly.

"Maybe I am, for someone who lives in a desert." Sasuke watched in disgust as Naruto ate his ramen fast and sloppily. He then looked at his own pale skin. Why was he so pale? It wasn't like he didn't spend time outside, in fact he spent most of his time outside training our taking walks. He sighed, then looked back at Naruto. He was finished his ramen.

"What were you two talking about, anyways? Sasuke was looking all emotional."

"Hey!"

"It was nothing, Naruto."

"Hmph…"

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes."

"God you're such a dweeb…"

"Shut up!"

"You two are such idiots…" there was bickering in the background as Gaara sighed and rested his chin in his palm.

"Oi!"

"Ouch!"

"Sango! Get off of me!"

"I'm on the other side of the hut Kagome…"

"Then who is this?"

"Hi…"

"ACK! Itachi get off of me!"

"You guys are too loud…"

"You try sleeping on the floor!"

"No thanks." Rin watched as the five people on the ground struggled to find a good sleeping position. The hut was indeed smaller than she remembered. She watched as a grumbling Itachi got off of Kagome, rolling over and being squished between Sakura and Sango, Shippou curled up on a chair with a leg and an arm hanging down, hitting Kagome's face.

"Why did I agree to this…?" Sakura groaned.

"Because you're my friend?" Rin asked, going puppy-eyed and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Whatever…"

"Hey!"

"What?"

"Don't give me that innocent look…"

"So?"

"So what?"

"So?"

"So what?"

"Well?"

"Well…what…?" he was getting deeply annoyed with him now.

"Do you miss her?" he taunted, electric blue eyes coming into Sasuke's vision.

"Go away Naruto…"

"But Sasuke…" Naruto whined. Sasuke's eye twitched slightly.

"How can I even answer your question when I don't even know who you're talking about anyways?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes.

"So you do!"

"No…I was just pointing that out to you."

"Yeah right."

"Naruto, go back and think about my earlier question, and you tell me whether or not it means I miss one of them."

Pause…

"Ok fine, you didn't." Naruto mumbled. Sasuke smirked in triumph. "But it doesn't mean you don't miss one of them."

Sigh…

End Chapter


	9. Talks, Explosions and Remembering

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto.

Chapter 9: Talks, Explosions And Remembering

Kagome sighed. One week went by fast if you asked her. Itachi was actually pretty okay. He didn't mind of they talked bad about the people here, either. They had found out that his whole 'I'm taken over by Orochimaru' thing was just a hoax, he was actually on a mission for his club thingy she couldn't remember the name of, and was pretending to be on Orochimaru's side.. He already knew that Orochimaru was actually scared of him.

"Hey, Kagome?" Rin asked softly. They were sitting in the forest, just relaxing, getting away from the overly small hut for once. Kagome looked over at the girl. "I really miss SesshouMaru-sama…it's different without him."

"Yeah…" Kagome whispered, looking off into the distance. "I miss him, too."

"You miss InuYasha and Miroku, too…" Rin said. "But I think you miss InuYasha more than anything else back in the feudal era."

"I think so too…" Kagome said, her eyes clouded as she thought of all the times she had sat him, and all of those special moments that they had shared.

'Let me stay with you…I will never leave your side…' 

"It's been a week." Rin said. Kagome glanced at her. "They should be here." Abrupt change of subject, but Rin had sensed the mood, and it was something that needed to be said.

"Yes, they should. Sakura might just have to get ready." Kagome replied.

"Yeah, I just hope it won't take too long." Rin sighed out, "Hey, who're the people of the sand? I've been hearing things all week."

"Some dude named Gaara is the Kazekage of the sand country, he's an ally of the fire country, he agreed to help us make a diversion to save you, he also had an attack planned anyways." Kagome said. "I only met him briefly before we had to leave. I honestly don't know how Sasuke managed to convince me to stay to listen to him an his little plan."

"Kagome…what do you think of Sasuke?"

"What do you mean?"

"As in…well, do you like him?" Rin asked.

"As a friend…?" Kagome asked with a raised eyebrow. The girl beside her shook her head.

"No, more." Rin replied.

"No," Kagome replied, shaking her head with a laugh. She took a glance at Rin to find the girl's face completely serious, her brown eyes hard and honest, and her black hair tied into a side ponytail. "No…I don't."

"Ok…" Rin whispered, bringing her knees to her chest. "Just wondering, because when we were staying in Konoha, it was just…I don't know, you looked at him like you used to look at InuYasha."

"I…did?" Kagome whispered. She hadn't even realized it, had she really looked at him like she had with InuYasha?

"Yeah…listen, never mind, let's go back. I have a strange feeling the people we're expecting are about to show up just on time."

She was right. As soon as they entered the village, they found that every one was in a panic, and as they walked through the streets completely unnoticed, they barely saw a blur of black and blue and found Sasuke standing in front of them. He looked strangely calm, though.

"Where're the others?" he asked.

"That's all you have to say after a week?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, more than I can say for you. What've you been doing? Relaxing?" Sasuke demanded, looking cold. So that was the problem. "She's right beside you, you probably had a million chances and yet you never fled."

"No, because Rin said something to me. I trusted her, and she was right. Sasuke, come with us." Kagome said coldly. She might as well just cut straight to the point. Sasuke was obviously surprised by the command, but she didn't care. She began walking, a chuckling Rin and a stunned Sasuke fallowing her as she maneuvered through the rushing village.

It wasn't long before they reached the hut. As they entered, they found Naruto tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth and an annoyed Sakura standing beside him. Itachi looked strangely relieved while Shippou was laughing and Sango was picking at her nails. That man, Gaara, stood in the corner, leaning against the wall. So he knew…

"What the…" Sasuke mumbled, looking at the scene, and Gaara looked over at him.

"Finally. Maybe you can get the idiot to shut up. He got what he disserved if you ask me." Gaara mumbled boredly. Sasuke blinked.

"Why is every one just lounging around happily with Itachi in the room and a highly dangerous village outside?" Sasuke snapped.

"Because you're too pig headed to realize what this is really about." Kagome snapped beside him. She felt as if a ton of weight had just been lifted off her chest. She hadn't talked to someone like that in a long time…that was when she realized Rin's words were true.

"…_it was just…I don't know, you looked at him like you used to look at InuYasha."_

Maybe she did…was this a bad thing? Yes. It was. She knew she couldn't fall again. And she wasn't, just because this guy acted a little like InuYasha didn't mean he was anything similar, especially in looks. That suddenly made her feel better. As she thought of looks, she realized a certain silver haired jounin wasn't in the room.

"Where's Kakashi?" Kagome asked.

"He didn't come, had his own mission somewhere else. He didn't say anything about it, didn't even tell us he was leaving, we only found out later from Tsunade." Sasuke replied. He seemed a little more calm, and that was when she realized that Gaara must have said something while she had been musing over her own thoughts.

"Little brother, can we talk?" Itachi asked suddenly. Sasuke looked over, and looked hesitant, before reluctantly walking outside. There was something in Itachi's voice that Kagome noticed, and she realized that Sasuke had heard it too and suddenly felt he had to do as he was told, and sensed everything would be fine. Kagome already knew everything would be fine, she knew Itachi well enough now…

("…")

One hour had passed since Sasuke had left with Itachi. Every one was getting bored as they talked randomly, and a small snore was heard from Shippou as Rin cleaned her nails for the tenth time, Gaara played with his sand, Sango hummed softly while checking over her Hiraikotsu for the millionth time, and Kagome fell onto the bed, closing her eyes.

"Kuso!" that wasn't expected. Every one was snapped out of their stupor as they heard Sasuke curse and enter the room. He looked around wildly, Itachi soon entering looking completely calm, but there was a hint of worry in his own expression.

"What's happening?" Kagome demanded.

"Bombs. Kankurou and Temari have gone too far Gaara." Sasuke glared in Gaara's direction. There was a muffled whine and they all turned to Naruto, who was squirming in his chair. Kagome sweat dropped…oh yeah… she quickly untied him and he let in a long, fresh breath.

"Ok…thank you…anyone got ramen?" every one groaned. "Okay, okay, I get it, no ramen. Fine. But why can't we leave now? And Gaara, why didn't you tell them not to set bombs anyways?"

"I told them to go full extent if we took longer than a half an hour. Thanks to Sasuke's little talk, we took longer than expected." Gaara said.

"Hey! Don't blame it on me!" Sasuke snapped.

"I never inquired that." Gaara replied. "I simply stated that you were taking a little long with your talk. It doesn't mean it is your fault, it just means you needed more time, which really doesn't matter because it was mostly our fault for not acting sooner."

"Whatever…" Sasuke muttered, looking slightly agitated.

"Can we go now?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes. "I'm getting tired of this stupid little hut. Please, can we just go?"

"Yeah, c'mon." Kagome muttered. She stood and every one else did as well that was sitting. Shippou moved beside her and looked up at her. She smiled down at him, then looked over at Itachi.

"Listen, thanks…" Kagome said. She glanced over at Rin, who looked sad. "Guys, c'mon. Rin…be quick, and please don't get too gross…"

"Shut up!" Rin snapped, blushing with wide eyes. Kagome grinned, then slipped out the door. Every one quickly fallowed except Rin and Itachi. Rin looked at Itachi nervously. "I guess…this is goodbye." She mumbled with a shrug. He grinned, and stepped towards her.

"Nah, Sasuke and I are okay, and we always have these strange little meetings in random places, so I'll probably see you around. The Akatsuki also seem to favor sending me on missions for Konoha." He said, and she laughed softly, then looked into his eyes.

"I feel really corny right now…" she chuckled out, Kagome had told her all of those classic goodbyes in movies and books. Well, it could possibly be happening to her now.

"Yeah, well, too bad." He said, and leaned forward. His lips captured hers in a soft, butterfly kiss. He pulled away quickly. Rin blushed, eyes wide, but he turned her around forcefully and pushed her out the door. Her heart fluttered as she tried to turn back, but she felt a forceful tug on her wrist. She looked back in time to see Itachi wave to them, then turn back into his hut with a glance towards Rin.

"So, did he kiss you?" Kagome asked, letting go of her wrist. "The way you came out, it kinda looked like it."

"Shut up…" Rin groaned, the blush never leaving her face.

"Was that you first kiss?" Kagome asked as they ran.

"…Yeah." Rin muttered, smiling softly. "And I'm glad it was."

"Cute." Kagome said with a wink.

"What about you?" Rin asked.

"Nope, no kisses." She replied. Rin almost tripped.

"You've…never had a kiss…?" she asked, wide eyed. Kagome laughed.

"No, of course not. I don't do that kind of stuff." Kagome replied as they continued to run. What happened next was a blur to every one. A bomb went off right where Kagome stepped, and she was sent fifty feet into the air, screaming, and somewhere between the fifty foot descent she fell unconscious, and Sasuke barely caught her mid air, jumping after her.

"Kagome!"

End Chapter


	10. Vivid Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or InuYasha

Chapter 10: Vivid Dreams

She was standing there, on a cliff, overlooking a huge, endless ocean, the wind hitting her face full on. Her skirt billowed behind her, her blouse having a mind of its own, showing her body through a very thin amount of cloth with the wind pushing against it. Why was she in her school uniform? She had almost forgotten exactly how it felt to wear this small outfit.

_She stared out into the ocean, her hands limp at her sides, in loose fists. Her honey eyes were sad, it was evident from a single glance, especially if you knew her well. Her long, milky legs were straight, but they were quivering slightly, as if begging to fall, as if needing to rest and collapse. But she stood strong, her raven hair flailing about._

"_Kagome…" she turned, and stared the hanyou in the eyes, gold with brown, and she felt her heart skip a beat._

"_InuYasha…you're alive," she whispered._

"_What're you talking about?" he asked. "C'mon, we have to go, we need to find Naraku quickly."_

"_But…you died…Naraku is ruling over…" Kagome said slowly._

"_I don't know what you're talking about," InuYasha said, shaking his head, "But we need to go."_

"_But…" Kagome whispered as she took a few steps towards him. She walked behind him, her mind lost. Was it really all just a vivid dream? What about Sasuke and Naruto? And what about Sakura?_

"_Kagome! Why'd you wander off?" Shippou asked as she approached the rest of the group. Kagome blinked._

"_I'm not sure…" she replied, staring off into space. She didn't remember a place like this, though. She sighed, maybe she had just been having a small black out from exhaustion. Yeah, maybe none of that had happened. She watched as Sango slapped Miroku for his devious ways once again, and felt tears come to her eyes. It had been so long since she had last seen that…_

"She's shaking! What should we do?" Rin asked in a panic. She was watching Kagome, wide eyed. Sasuke stood beside her, watching the girl carefully, letting no emotion escape upon his face, but inside he was also panicking. What had happened?

"She's gone into a coma…" Gaara said behind them.

"From one little explosion?" Sakura asked.

"I'm amazed she's even breathing after that." Gaara replied. "That explosion was one most would be unable to survive unless you are highly trained and are able to block the impact somehow or get away from it. From what I know, she isn't exactly highly trained."

"It was probably Tetsusaiga." Sango said from behind Sasuke. "It protects humans…"

"Sango," Rin whispered, hitting her arm lightly, and the girl blushed.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "Anyways, Kagome will probably be fine, she's gone through worse. She's never been in a coma before, but I'm sure she can handle herself."

"Of course she can! Kagome can do anything!" Shippou mumbled out, huffing. The words of a hopeful child who knew better than to truly believe those words. Sasuke looked over at him and blinked his eyes slowly as he looked back at Kagome. Maybe every thing would be okay, though…

"Oi!" Kagome jumped as she was snapped out of her reverie. She could've sworn she had just heard Sasuke and Gaara. She shook her head and ran after the others. It was just a dream…

"_Kagome, wake up." Kagome looked at Sango, who looked back at her with sad eyes, the eyes that were filled with loss from the one she loved, the ones who were wise and knew what Kagome knew. The Sango back in Konoha. "Kagome? Are you okay…?"_

"_Huh…?" Kagome looked again. It was the old Sango, the one before everything had happened. Kagome sighed, there was something wrong with her head…_

_The second day. Strange things were happening. She swore she saw not InuYasha forest but the wild forest beside Konoha, and she saw black and blue hair disappear behind trees, and whenever she went to see if Sasuke was there, he wasn't. When she looked at Miroku, one she swore she saw Itachi's face instead._

_When they had passed someone on the road, she saw Naruto, and then when she blinked it was just a normal looking person in their kimono. The same thing happened again, but she saw Sakura instead. There were a couple of times she had mistaken InuYasha for Kakashi, and she swore Sango continuously gave her those strange moments, telling her to wake up. Wake up from what?_

"_Well?" InuYasha asked, looking annoyed. "Anything?" she was confused for a couple seconds. Then she remembered the jewel shards. Her eyes widened, and her hand went to her neck. "Kagome!"_

"_Huh…?" she blinked and looked over at him. "Oh…no…"_

"_What's wrong with you? You've been like this since yesterday. Did something hit you in the head or something?" Kagome glared sharply at him._

"_Sit!" she snapped, and watched pleasantly as he fell to the ground with a crash. Ah, it felt good to do that…_

"_Wench!"_

"Kagome…" Rin bit her lip and looked at the unconscious girl. They had reached Gaara's main building in the sand country, and Kagome had a room all to herself, with a huge bed, a canopy, and black and red sheets, blankets and pillows. If it weren't for the sweat or the fact that she had not been awake for the past few days or sweating slightly with a bit more strained face, someone would merely think she were sleeping.

"Hey, why don't you take a break?" Rin turned to find Sasuke and she smiled softly.

"Thanks…" she whispered, and got up. But right as she was about to leave, Sasuke grabbed her arm.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, looking slightly nervous.

"Sure," Rin said, looking confused. She sat back down and Sasuke sat across from her.

"About Itachi…" he looked down at the ground. "Well, what happened between you two?"

"I don't know, one second we were walking through a city and I had a bruised wrist, the next we're sitting in a hut talking normally and being friends." Rin replied with a shrug. "He's actually really nice."

"He was never like that, even when he was happy…" Sasuke mumbled. "It's just…I think you changed him."

"Me?" Rin asked, laughing softly. _'Just like I changed SesshouMaru…' _"Yeah, maybe I did. I've done it before. It's amazing that a little girl like me can do so much…"

"You're not very little." Sasuke said.

"You don't know the half of it," Rin replied, closing her eyes as a fresh memory of SesshouMaru came into her mind, the time when they had been sitting in a field, Rin picking flowers as usual. Jaken was grumbling as she placed a flower crown on his head, and SesshouMaru watched from a distance, but even from there she could see the hidden warmth in his eyes as Rin hummed softly.

"No one's really asked before, but what happened in your past?" Sasuke asked. Rin glanced at him cautiously.

"Something I don't like to discuss." She replied stiffly. "I would prefer if you did not ask me, Sango and Kagome that. Especially not Kagome… she's going through more than either me or Sango…"

"Fine," Sasuke sighed softly, looking at the girl in a coma. His eyes softened yet again, but he didn't know why. He barely even knew this girl, he barely talked to her, and yet he felt as if she was changing him. Maybe this wasn't a very good thing. He looked over at Rin. She was watching him carefully.

"I kissed your brother." She finally broke the silence, but maybe not with the best note.

"I overheard your conversation with Kagome before the explosion." Sasuke replied.

"Heh…" Rin looked down. She bit her lip, then looked back at Sasuke. "Is there a problem in your past?"

"I would prefer if you didn't dig into mine, just like you do not wish for me to dig into yours." Sasuke replied curtly.

"Alright, fine." She replied and sighed again. "Listen, I don't know why you two are on such bad terms, but maybe you can settle everything."

"We have tried that on our talk only three days ago." Sasuke replied. "I still wish to kill him and get my revenge."

"I'm just going to stop." Rin mumbled and got up. "I'll see you later."

End Chapter


	11. A Way Out

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 11: A Way Out

All he did was brood in the room where Kagome lay. Naruto was tired of it. Sakura was worrying beyond belief for her friend, but there was evidence of jealousy in her eyes whenever she saw Sasuke sitting there. Yet, Sasuke could care less if Sakura liked him or not. Right now, he seemed to be entranced by the girl that lay in a coma, a girl who had not talked for three days.

Kagome's aura was pure, unbelievably pure, and her personality was wonderful, she was a beautiful girl as well. Some would think of her as a goddess if they had never known her before. Naruto, of course, wouldn't blame them. Kakashi had finally arrived back from his mission. He, as well, seemed to watch Kagome like a hawk, something like curiousness in his eyes.

Naruto was curious as well. Why were the three girls and small boy so secretive? What could be so bad that they would want to hide their past? It was like they came from some other dimension or were traveling through time or something. Even then, Naruto would at least understand, he wouldn't shun them, ignore them, not with his own past.

Sakura entered the room. They were still in the sand village. No one wanted to leave, everyone was worried, and Gaara was excepting them. They took the opportunity to talk business with Gaara as well. Sango was often found in the training grounds, covered in dirt and wounds, her Hiraikotsu worn. She would continuously polish the curious weapon and would redo it every day. She seemed to be the most effected.

Sango would not speak a word to anyone. She remained silent, as if, if she were to speak, she herself would shatter or she would kill Kagome. She was hard and cold, and only ever acknowledged their presence with a nod or a glance. No, Sango was taking this badly. Possibly not, maybe she thought it was a good thing, but Naruto had his own opinions.

But currently, all train of thought left as he watched Sakura. Beautiful, entrancing Sakura, who didn't even notice him. He sighed. He jumped as Sango entered, and watched her stalk through the room and through the door that led to Kagome. Naruto blinked.

"At least she's finally going and seeing Kagome. I thought she never would…" Rin mumbled, plopping down onto a chair. Naruto glanced at her, and watched as Sakura yawned.

"Yeah…" she mumbled. "I wonder if Kagome will make it through this okay…"

"Of course she will," Naruto said, crossing his arms on the table and putting his chin in the center, watching them. Shippou let out a dry sob.

"I miss Kagome-okaa-san." He mumbled. He curled into a ball on the floor, sniffling, and fell asleep. Naruto watched him closely, the innocent child who believed so much in Kagome had kept his lips sealed tight. He never said anything about anything and he would keep to himself, but he would not ignore them or not talk to them. He was often found watching Sango, though.

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered, her knees to her chest on the chair, and her arms wrapped around them. Her chin rested on her knee caps, and she glanced at Naruto, a sadness so deep in her eyes it shocked Naruto. "What can we do…?"

"I don't know," Naruto whispered in reply, looking down. "I really don't know."

"Kagome-chan is too important, too kind, too…perfect to die." Sakura whimpered.

"Nothing is perfect. Even Kagome has her flaws." Rin replied, laying her head on the table.

("…")

"Kagome…" Sango bit out, looking down at the girl. Sasuke was fast asleep, his head on the edge of the bed, and Kakashi was no where to be seen at the moment. "You're too damn stubborn to die." Sango seethed out, and she felt a hot tear run down her cheek. "It was just one tiny explosion, Kagome. Wake up…"

"_Wake up, Kagome. We need you." Sango looked at Kagome, and Kagome looked back. Her heart was suddenly moving a hundred miles an hour. It thudded in her chest as she watched Sango stumble forward and hug her. They were walking to the hot springs, the boys back at the camp. "Don't listen to your mind…it's a dream…come back to us, we miss you."_

"_Sango?" Kagome asked cautiously. "Are you ok…?"_

"_Please…you need to wake up. You'll die." Sango cried out, there were tears going down her face now as she hugged Kagome closer. "It was only one little explosion…"_

"_Sango, you're scaring me. What are you talking about?" Kagome asked. But it was like she couldn't hear Kagome as she sobbed into Kagome's shirt, and suddenly sunk to her knees, letting out small whimpers. Kagome stared in shock. "Sango…" she called out._

"_Kagome…Shippou needs you, I need you, Sakura and Rin need you. Let go of your memories, let go of InuYasha, you have to…" Sango cried._

"_But…" Kagome was unable to believe these words. She couldn't let InuYasha go…what was Sango talking about? Kagome only vaguely remembered the world as of which she had believed to be a dream, but memories were entering fresh into her mind, memories of bright blue eyes and dark blue eyes, and of green eyes that glittered happily with knowledge and kindness, and the eye that seemed to be bored and lazy all the time._

"_Kagome?" Kagome turned to find InuYasha, and when she looked to see if Sango was still sobbing, she found Sango was standing there, waving her hand in Kagome's face._

"_Earth to Kagome…" she called out with a small smirk. "What's with you? You've been zoning a lot lately."_

"_Sorry…" Kagome mumbled, shaking her head. She looked over at InuYasha, who just shrugged._

"_Whatever, was just coming to see if I could make some ramen." He said, but she could tell it was because he was worried._

"_Yeah, sure." Kagome said with a shrug and the two girls continued walking. Kagome once again saw the black and blue blur, and her heart raced. What was wrong with her?_

He watched the girl. There was something about her, something familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was. There was just something about not only her looks but her character, but he couldn't figure out where any of these things were coming from. He bit his lip behind his mask, and watched Sango fall asleep. He had entered a couple minutes ago, and knew she had heard him enter.

"Kagome…you are a curious girl." He mumbled. Sasuke stirred on the bed, and Kakashi glanced over at him. With a few hand signs, it was like he had never even been there as Sasuke sat up and looked around, completely oblivious to the fact that Kagome's face was now screwed into a fearful look.

"Huh…" he whispered to himself, and laid his head back down, going back to sleep.

("…")

"Do you think it'll be much longer?"

"Possibly, there's no telling. This girl is strong, but it might take a bit to get her to wake up."

"What can we do?"

"Wait…research…her friends seem to be making good progress. I'm not sure what Sango did, but it almost seemed as if Kagome stirred. Her eyes were just about to open when something must have happened in her world she has created to make her stop."

"Interesting. So you think that the boy, Rin and Sango will be able to make her wake up if they continue to try and talk to her?"

"Sango didn't only talk to her, she entered the realm that Kagome was in. She possibly already knew what Kagome was dreaming about from the way her face was set, and from other small hints we would not understand. Remember, Sango is one of the people who knows about this girl's past."

"Of course. Anyways, we will have to inform Tsunade we may not be back for another little while."

"I'll send a messenger."

"Of course." Kakashi bowed to Gaara and left.

("…")

Sango looked at the girl. She had reached what Kagome was dreaming. Of course, it was about the feudal era. Kagome thought that she had not at all even left the feudal era, as if nothing had happened. But when Sango had begged, she saw the recognition in Kagome's disbelieving eyes. She didn't want to wake up, she didn't want InuYasha dead, but she had to, or else she would die in both worlds.

"Kagome, you have to be strong for just a bit longer, just let me convince you…" Sango whispered, then left. Sasuke watched her leave, but she ignored the eyes on her back. It was time for Sango to begin training again.

("…")

"Kagome, you have to be strong for just a bit longer, just let me convince you…" he heard Sango whisper. What was that about? He watched her leave, and winced as she slammed the shoji door shut. He didn't want to hear loud noises right now. He was too tired, and he had a headache coming, as well as a grumble of the stomach. As if on cue, Sakura and Naruto walked in, and the smell of ramen reached his nose.

"Hey, thought you might want to eat," Naruto said as he sat beside Sasuke. Sakura sat on the other side of him, watching Kagome. Her eyes had huge bags under them, and her skin was slightly pale. Sasuke thought he probably looked worse, much worse. He took the bowl of ramen, looking away from Sakura, and avoided looking at the innocently taunting face of Kagome. Why was he even watching her like this anyways?

"What do you think will happen now?" Sakura asked. "I mean, what if she wakes up?"

"I'm not letting her go into a dangerous village alone ever again." Sasuke muttered between mouthfuls and Naruto chuckled.

"Me too."

"Me three," Sakura said with a light, tired grin. Sasuke glanced at her, and felt a smile creep into his lips. He looked at the girl. About that earlier question…it wasn't like he had feelings for her. As he thought about it, though, he realized that this girl had become as close to him as Sakura and Naruto, and that was a very impressive feat. He looked over at Naruto, and realized that he was smiling, and this time for real.

So many times Sasuke had seen the lie in Naruto's eyes when he smiled. Ever since they had been in the same team, Sasuke had seen it. Naruto never _really_ smiled that often, he actually forced it, or maybe it came naturally but he never really meant it. It was rare to see Naruto smile, and when you did, it was…different. Just like now.

"Maybe everything will turn out ok." Naruto whispered, watching Kagome sleep. And Sasuke knew, as he watched Naruto, that Kagome had changed this scarred boy all because she had not shunned him right away. Did Kagome know, though? Even then, even after he pulled pranks and acted like an idiot, Kagome still treated him equally. What about Kyuubi…?

End Chapter


	12. She's Back

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto.

Chapter 12: She's Back

Sango bit her lip, staring between Sasuke and Kakashi, who were watching her as she tried to make a decision. Finally, she burst.

"Fine!" she snapped, and crossed her arms. "It won't work, but if it means you'll stop watching me like that then I'll do it."

"How do you know it won't work?" Kakashi asked. "Kagome has faith in you."

"She's unable to speak…how do you know that?" Sango replied snappily, glaring at the jounin. Kakashi just smiled under his mask.

"I can tell," he replied. "A mystery, really."

"Just shut up…" Sango growled out, and Sasuke watched the two with a sigh. "Sasuke, you're going to have to leave the room, too, you know."

"Why?" he asked, suddenly looking at her with wide eyes.

"Why're you even so attached to her?" Sango asked, crossing her arms. That made him falter, and his eyes shadowed over.

"I don't know…" he whispered. "I guess…this is what I'd be like for Sakura and Naruto, too."

"Eh…?" Sango asked, raising and eyebrow. She sighed. "Fine, help if you can."

"Good luck." Kakashi said, leaving, going back into the small room right outside with the fridge and chairs and table, leaving Sango and Sasuke in an awkward silence, staring at Kagome.

Kagome yawned happily, looked out into the sunrise. She glanced at InuYasha beside her, and subconsciously grabbed his hand as she turned back to the sunrise. There was a blush on the hanyou's cheeks, shifting slightly on the branch. They were sitting in a tree, a Sakura tree to be precise, and the others were still sleeping.

"_InuYasha…" Kagome whispered. "Are you really here?"_

"_Huh…?" InuYasha looked over at the now sad girl. Her eyes were shadowed and her head bent._

"_Are you real? Are you just a fantasy? Am I in some kind of dream state? Is this some trick?" Kagome whispered. "InuYasha…are you just my mind? If you are…you'll tell me the truth, won't you? I…I want to go back."_

"_That was all you had to say." Kagome stared in shock as she found Sasuke in front of her, and blushed, pulling her hand away, but he grabbed it again. "Come back…we're worried." He whispered, leaning close to her. He brought her into a slow hug, and Kagome stared in shock ahead of her. _'What's happening?'

"Kagome, come back to us. Shippou needs you." Sasuke pulled away from her as Kagome turned to find Sango on her other side. Kagome looked around, they were still in the tree, but the group was no longer sleeping on the ground, they were gone. Every thing was gone. Everything was white, the only thing left was the tree and them.

"_Wake up, Kagome." Sasuke whispered. Both of them took a hand, and clutched it. Kagome closed her eyes, a tear going down her face._

"_InuYasha…" she whimpered._

"_Let go, Kagome. Let go of him." Sango called out, her voice broken. "Please Kagome…" a sob racked through Sango's body, and Kagome clutched her hand harder. "Wake up…"_

"Wake up…" Sango whispered, looking down at the girl. Sasuke stared in shock as they were suddenly pulled out of the strange world Kagome had been in. They looked down to find two brown orbs looking up at them.

("…")

"They did their job." Kakashi said, looking into the television. "They did it well, too."

"Amazing…" Gaara mumbled.

"Indeed, very amazing." Kakashi said. "Kagome is an amazing girl, she even pulled them into her world inside of her mind. If only we knew her past…"

"That is something we cannot disturb. The mind is the greatest sanctuary to someone." Gaara replied. "Besides, I have a feeling she holds a _very_ strong barrier."

"I have a feeling you're right." Kakashi replied, pulling out his orange Icha-Icha paradise book. Gaara sweat dropped.

("…")

"KAGOME!!!!" Shippou yelled, bursting forward and hugging Kagome so hard she gasped for breath. After he let go, she laughed.

"Shippou…" she grinned. "Wow…you really have grown…" she mumbled, shaking her head, and Shippou blushed. He knew what she was talking about. Suddenly Kagome was tackled down by Naruto, and she let out a gasp as she fell to the floor. Suddenly the weight left her and there was a deep whine and a very agitated looking Sasuke standing over Naruto.

"She just woke up you idiot…" Sasuke whispered lethally. Naruto gulped, laughing nervously.

"Gomen Kagome-nee-chan…" he mumbled. Kagome gaped for a second, before grinning. Naruto realized his mistake and blushed. "I meant Kagome…"

"It's ok, I think of you as a brother anyways, I'm just glad you think of me the same way." Kagome said with a smile. Naruto's blush deepened and he scratched the back of his head shyly.

"Alright, can we go back to Konoha? I'm tired of all this sand and this overly hot weather and how dry it is…" Sango mumbled. Kagome, as soon as she got up, was tackled with a hug from Sakura.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she yelled out, hugging Kagome tighter, who was getting slightly blue in the face.

"Me…too…" she gasped out, and Sakura gave a nervous laugh as she pulled away.

"Sorry." She mumbled out, biting her lip.

"About your question, Sango, yes, we will be going back in about an hour time, and Gaara will be accompanying us." Kakashi said, suddenly appearing behind all of them, and Kagome blinked.

"Wow…" she mumbled. "I guess there's no time for me to rest or anything, huh?" she whispered. Sango hid her laugh, Kagome was too good at acting. Obviously the others fell for it though. They stared at her sympathetically (Sasuke trying to hide it) and Kakashi laughed nervously.

"Well, we could make it another day…" he began slowly.

"Haha! Gotcha!" Kagome said, grinning. "I'm fine, I'm energetic, and my legs are god damn stiff."

"You suck…" Naruto whined and Kagome winked at him.

"Only on suckers." She said, and Naruto blushed deeply while every one else sighed.

"Since when does your mind hit the gutter?" Sakura asked.

"Since I met Kakashi." Kagome muttered in reply, glaring evilly at the jounin, who gave her an innocent look.

"What did I ever do?" he asked.

"You acted too much like Miroku is what you did, and during a mature part of my life, too. I understood every little word you said, Kakashi-sensei, so don't you dare try to act innocent." By the look he gave her, she had caught him dead on. Every one sweat dropped.

"Kagome-okaa-san is back!" Shippou yelled out in glee, dancing around, and Rin entered the room. She stared at Kagome for a few seconds, before her face split into a grin and she burst forward, hugging Kagome fiercely.

"Kagome…you're ok…" she whispered, tears in her eyes. she pulled back and wiped them away, giving a small sniffle. "Sorry, a little emotional …I'm so glad to see you ok, though."

"I'm glad to see you're also ok." Kagome whispered in reply. "I hope the others didn't cause too much trouble."

"Nah…" Rin replied with a shrug. Sango looked between them. Ever since they had gone through the well, Kagome had a sort of protectiveness over Rin, as if sister to sister, or mother to daughter. It seemed Rin returned the feeling, but she was the younger sister or the daughter. Rin had matured, but she was still only a child at heart, and Kagome had matured so much…

"Shall we?" Gaara said from the doorway suddenly, causing all of them to jump and look over at him. "You're all chicken shits…" he mumbled, shaking his head as he walked out. As every one stood there in silence, never moving, Gaara reentered about three minutes later to see them all in the same position. He sighed. "Are you coming or not?" that got them.

"Hai!" they all called, and suddenly began moving and talking again. Gaara stared at them, deadpanned, and shook his head.

"Hopeless…" he muttered, and glanced at Sango as she just sat there, watching them. Why wasn't she joining in…? She was a curious one, and a good fighter. He had watched her train a couple times, but never really paid any attention to what she was like otherwise. Maybe right now wasn't such a good time, after all, she had just watched her friend wake up from a week long sleep…

End Chapter


	13. Glorious, Wonderful, Secrets And Memorie

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 13: Glorious, Wonderful, Secrets And Memories

"Ouch!" Kagome winced as she fell on her but yet again. Training wasn't going so well lately. Not after she had begun learning the levels that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were at. She was training with Kakashi now, and all he did was make her work, barely even watching her while he read his perverted book, and she glared at him as he once again told her to redo the jutsu.

"Kagome, it was good, you just got the timing slightly wrong. Try it a little faster, but concentrate, put your mind into the hand signs, don't let your guard down, but keep focus on that and that alone." Sasuke said, he had decided to help, for some strange reason watching over Kagome whenever he could, and had succeeded in becoming an excellent partner and great help. But right now his words were sort of confusing.

"Uh…Sasuke…how?" she asked. He sighed.

"It's just how it sounds." He mumbled. "Fallow your instincts. Go ahead." Kagome bit her lip. "And don't get nervous."

"Shut up!" Kagome snapped, glaring at him, and then proceeded to do the jutsu, doing as Sasuke had told her. The result was greatly approved of. She watched as she created the Satsugaite No Jutsu be created in her palms. She grinned. She glanced at Kakashi, why was he even teaching her such jutsus, anyways? She shrugged, maybe it was protection…

"Very nice!" Kakashi said, actually putting the book down for a second to watch her blast it off into a tree, watching it explode with a wince, and grinned. He had seen the slightly pink hue to the ball before she had let it go. Blue didn't give off pink hues, so it was most likely her miko energy, an energy no one could really help train her in. Something clicked in Kakashi's memory, of a distant place.

"Thank you!" Kagome beamed at him, and his heart stopped. It was familiar…

"Hn…" he mumbled. "Practice with Sasuke for a while." Kagome blinked and watched him as he suddenly looked deep in thought. There was something familiar in the way he sat there, something distant.

"_Daddy!" Kagome called out, and ran across the lush green meadow. She ran straight into his arms as he bent down, and squealed, squeezing him tight. She heard his deep chuckle, and as she looked at him, this time it was no blur. His silver hair was still swept to the side, his eyes were still lazy, and that same recognition and honorable aura Kagome had just realized still hung around him._

"_Kagome! Welcome back! Did you have a fun walk with gii-chan?" he asked, and Kagome nodded furiously. He grinned under his mask at her and Kagome stood on her tip toes so she could reach his ear as he bent even lower._

"_He talks too much about the Shikon jewel…" she whispered into his ear and he gave a laugh, ruffling her hair. She blushed, and smiled up at him._

"_Indeed…" he said, but there was something different about him. He suddenly looked sad, and his aura dampened for a moment. Then the grin returned, but it was fake. Later, as Kagome stood in the training grounds, she realized that that was the night he had to leave, the night where she had once again left with gii-chan to get some ice-cream and came back to never see her father again…_

"Dad…" she whispered, her eyes wide as she looked over at Kakashi. Sasuke stopped, staring at Kagome, but she paid him no heed. She stared at Kakashi, who was still in deep thought. She walked up to him, and knelt down in front of him, staring at his face curiously. He inched away, looking at Kagome with slight fear and a tint of worry.

"Kagome…?" he said slowly, and waved his gloved hand in front of her face. She blinked.

"Do you remember?" she asked. All fear left his face only to be replaced by curiousness and confusion. "Do you remember her…do you remember Ai?"

"Ai…?" he said the name slowly and rolled it along his tongue sweetly. It sounded so familiar…a distant memory, a painful one, that he had been forced to forget because of separation. Suddenly, two faces appeared, one of a lovely woman, and the other of a beautiful little girl of about three with innocent brown eyes staring up at him innocently. He found himself staring into those same eyes as he snapped out of his reverie.

"Kagome…" he whispered. It all came back, his five blissful years of paradise, as if he lived inside his own book, but not so graphic and much more innocent. He looked at her, and for once he actually truly smiled. "Kagome…"

"Father!" she yelled out, bursting forward and hugging him, tears in her eyes. He hugged her back, laughing heartily in her ears.

"Kagome, you've grown…" he whispered. "Was I really gone that long…?"

"Why did you leave?" Kagome asked, pulling away, and for a second he saw that little girl again, but suddenly she matured, and there was a deep sadness and a great wisdom to those slightly more narrow honey brown eyes, though still cheerful and selfless. Kakashi stroked her cheek.

"I was called, I had to. I had to forget you, I didn't want to but I had to, and it hurt me more than anything else in the world, and I regretted it so much…" Kakashi whispered.

"Dad…think about it…don't ever regret, because if you do, you'll try to forget it, and then it'll come back one day and strike you in the heart. Instead, remember, and keep it in your heart, and that way, you'll know that you're strong, that you can be afraid without being truly afraid, and you'll be strong." Kagome whispered. "And trust me, I barely understood what I just said, too, so don't worry."

"Hehe…" he chuckled and shook his head, then looked over to the bewildered and confused Sasuke just standing there.

"You mean…you're…father and daughter…?" he asked, looking between the two, and Kagome gasped but laughed at the same time as he fell down, holding his head. She ran forward and helped him up again.

"Yeah, surprise huh? You know…I don't think I like this very much…my dad is way too much of a hentai…" Kagome mumbled, shaking her head, and grinned over at Kakashi. "Huh, Otto-san?"

"Whatever you say, Ottome." He said, shaking his head. She laughed lightly and let go of Sasuke, letting him stand on his own. He blinked, then fainted, and Kagome sighed.

"He doesn't take things very well…" Kagome groaned as she picked him up. She glared over at Kakashi. "Thanks for the help, though, Otto-san…" she grumbled, throwing Sasuke over her shoulder and carrying him, unable to do any jutsus with him blocking her arm. Kakashi walked beside her, once again reading his book.

"Kagome, I don't want you getting too close to Sasuke." He said. "And, as your father, I actually have a right." He said, beaming, and Kagome glared at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, seeming as I'm sixteen and the fact that I am a mature and sensible girl, I know better than to do stupid things, and also…why would I even want to get close to Sasuke anyways?" Kagome asked, looking over at her new found father.

"He's…not someone to get close to, let's just say." He replied, and continued reading. Kagome looked at him after readjusting Sasuke.

"Kakashi…" she said slowly through gritted teeth.

"My own daughter shouldn't talk to me like that." Kakashi replied and Kagome breathed in slowly.

"Your student and your friend can talk to you like that," she replied. Kakashi looked at her, eyes wide, before a small smile settled on his lips, and even though Kagome couldn't see it she could sense it.

"He's dangerous, Kagome. More dangerous than you know. I won't tell you anything, because that's his own story to tell." Kakashi whispered, and continued walking, while Kagome stopped and watched him for a second. Something had happened there, she didn't know what it was, but there was something there. She bit her lip as she once again began walking. Deciding it was best to bring up something else, she hurried beside him.

"So…what do you think will happen when they find out you're my dad?"

("…")

"_**WHAT!!!!!"**_

End Chapter


	14. Double, Double

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 14: Double, Double

Sasuke was more than amused. The reaction to Kagome and Kakashi's new found bond had been priceless. All of them had fainted, then when they woke up had asked questions, and then Naruto had asked a fairly strange question, which resulted in every one hitting him over the head and a twitching Naruto, much to Sasuke's delight.

Currently, though, everything was going fine. The concept had been accepted by everyone and Tsunade had made Kagome an official citizen to Konoha, and after much begging and nagging and bugging (much on Naruto's part) Tsunade had finally agreed to also allow Sango and Rin to become citizens. That had been a funny sight, as well. They also graduated into genin, allowing them to be able to enter the chuunin exams rapidly coming closer as a team of three, Kakashi doing double on team sensei.

Sasuke sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, stepping over a random root from one of the nearby trees. He was outside of Konoha taking a walk, just to let his lungs get fresh air and to let his head clear out a bit. Outside Konoha was nice, calm and peaceful. Inside was just too…busy and crowded for him sometimes. He didn't like small spaces.

Sasuke was snapped out of his reverie when there was the sound of a twig breaking under the pressure of a foot. Sasuke looked around cautiously, and jumped high into a tree faster than the blink of an eye, and looked around from the new height. He nearly fell out of the tree when he saw the girl sitting on the same branch staring at him.

"Kagome?" he asked, but at the same time believed it not to be. This girl looked almost identical, but she had a red forehead protector on with a line through the sign of a flame, and she wore the same cloak that Itachi wore, but the neck cuff was red. Her eyes were a red brown, and her hair was in a high ponytail and was slightly wavy like Kagome's. She just sat there and watched him.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She whispered. Her hands moved and he looked down to find that the fingernails were purple, and on her right pinky finger was a ring. Sasuke glared at the ring suspiciously. He knew that sign well enough.

"Akatsuki…" he whispered. He looked back up at the girl. "Kagome, did you betray us?"

"Kagome…the name seems to bring something up, something…different. I don't like this feeling." She whispered. No, this was not Kagome. Why did she look so…similar? Suddenly, Sasuke found he had plenty more questions to ask Kagome. "I think I need to get rid of this feeling. Uchiha, I have a message for you. They say to be prepared, and don't underestimate the shadows."

"W-" he was going to say something but with a swirl of leaves, she was gone. Sasuke stared at the spot where the Kagome look-a-like had been. A message? From the Akatsuki? What for? Was it from Itachi, or from one of the other members? Too many questions, and right now he wanted different answers from a certain raven haired female.

"Shippou! Stop hiding!" Kagome groaned out, dragging her feet through the houses of the village. When had she said yes to Hide And Seek? She heard a giggle, and turned around to find a couple of kids watching her. Kagome rose an eyebrow. "Have you seen a kid about your age with orange hair and an orange tail?"

"Uh…yeah…" one said, and pointed towards another street. Kagome glared suspiciously and looked closer at the girl. Her hair had a slightly orange tint to the brown, and her eyes were a bright emerald green. Familiar emerald green.

"Shippou," Kagome said strictly, putting her hands on her hips. He was getting good at hiding his demonic scent, but she could still smell it faintly. There was a pop and a guilty looking Shippou stood before her, his black net shirt and baggy black shorts wet for some reason. "Why're you wet?"

"Hehe…I fell into the fountain…" he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. A second later, the other kids also popped and disappeared into a poof of smoke. "Like it? I was able to create a jutsu, I'm almost ready to graduate from the academy, Iruka-sensei says I'm the best illusionist he's ever seen."

"That's not much of a surprise, seeming as you're a kitsune." Kagome replied and turned around. Shippou ran up to her and walked with her.

"Did you know I'm actually much older than you?" Shippou asked, and she glanced at him.

"Yes, because I know that demons are much slower at growing." Kagome replied.

"Yep. I'm actually about 23 now." Shippou said, beaming.

"Then my father still has more experience than you." Kagome replied. "He's 36."

"I know." Shippou replied with a small pout. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Hurry up," she mumbled and then bounded off, leaving behind a slightly confused Shippou. He sighed and jumped after her, using his chakra and his youkai energy. They arrived to Sasuke's place soon after. Shippou groaned as they sat on the couch.

"Why do you always do that to me?" he asked. For some reason Kagome was much faster than he was.

"Because you're too slow for me, and I need to get you to push yourself, you need more strict training. The academy isn't doing a very good job in that category." Kagome replied, closing her eyes softly. Shippou huffed. They both jumped as the door was slammed open. A very agitated Sasuke came through the door.

"Kagome…I need to speak with you…" he said slowly, and Kagome winced. She didn't know what she had done, in fact, she didn't even remember seeing him today. He had been gone when she had woken up from what she knew.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I saw you-well, someone like you-in the forest." Sasuke said. "She looked identical to you but her eyes were more narrow and slightly red. She had a red headband around her forehead with a line going through it and a flame in the center, and she wore the Akatsuki uniform."

"And…?" Kagome asked slowly.

"Well, is there something you haven't been telling us?" he ground out, looking slightly dangerous. Kagome looked at him with wide eyes.

"Are you accusing that I'm a traitor?" Kagome asked. Sasuke seemed to pause.

"Maybe I am…" he replied. But he seemed to relax slightly, almost as if he didn't believe it himself and that it was a silly idea. In fact, it was, because Kagome would never do that. She was too…well, there was no word for it, really, but to try to explain it then he would probably say loyal and kind.

"Why would I do that? I've told you everything about me, I don't lie, and I most certainly wouldn't lie to my own father!" Kagome yelled at him. He winced slightly.

"Fine, I get the point…" he mumbled, then looked back at her. "Is there…anyone who looks almost identical to you?"

"…" something seemed to make Kagome suddenly shadow her eyes, and a dangerous air was about her. Shippou knew, almost immediately, who she was thinking about. "Her name is Kikyou. She…" Kagome bit her lip and looked back up at Sasuke. Should she tell him everything? Her heart wanted to, but her mind said it would only cause problems. But after so long of holding it, Kagome didn't know how much longer she could wait.

"Kagome is her reincarnation." Shippou said. "Kagome was reborn from Kikyou, she holds Kikyou's soul."

"She was brought back to life…well, somewhat brought back to life. She fed on the souls of young, dead women with part of Kagome's soul inside of her, and she had vowed to bring InuYasha back to hell with her. She was a walking clay-pot, the witch who had brought her back was foolish to think Kikyou would actually obey her. She had killed her own creator." Sango appeared in the doorway.

"Do you think it was her?" Sasuke asked. "She said she recognized Kagome's name, but she seemed to not really know where from."

"Kikyou knows my name well." Kagome replied. "She wears the attire of a priestess with cold brown eyes, paler skin than normal and her hair in a low ponytail that trails down her back." Kagome's eyes were clouded over as she remembered the woman. "The one you saw was not her."

"Then who was it?" Sasuke asked. "Is there anyone else?"

"No…not anyone but Rin." Kagome replied. "And Rin doesn't even look nearly as close to me as Kikyou." She was surprised that Sasuke had not asked any questions to Sango's explanation of Kikyou. Who wouldn't be curious about someone who was a clay pot who fed on souls? Right now, though, something told her he didn't really care.

"Ah…Kagome-chan…" Kakashi was coming in, looking slightly sheepish. "I heard your little conversation…and…I may be able to explain…I kind of forgot to tell you something…" he said slowly. Kagome felt a squirm in her stomach. She knew this wouldn't be good, and had a small idea in her head what it was. "Well, actually, I just kind of forgot about her…but you're mother had two children that night…"

"I have…" Kagome began slowly, breathing slowly in and out. "A twin…?"

"Well, yes." Kakashi said. Kagome's eye twitched and her breathing became less and less even. Her face was slightly red as she closed her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she ground out. "How…can…you…FORGET…about something LIKE THAT?"

"Uh…" he began. Kagome got up and hit him over the head, then stomped off. She was obviously not taking this well. Sango ran after her, and every one in the room just stood there.

"Kagome," Sango called, catching up with her. "He obviously didn't mean to. He said he had forgotten."

"How can he forget something so important, though?" Kagome asked. "Why would he forget his own daughters?"

"Maybe he wanted to forget, to get rid of the pain." Sango replied, grabbing Kagome's arm. Kagome spun around and faced her best friend. "Sasuke said she was a member of the Akatsuki from what she was wearing, right? Well, maybe Kakashi didn't want to accept the fact that his own daughter had become something so…cruel."

"No…Sasuke also said she wore a different headband he didn't recognize." Kagome replied. She sighed shakily. "She was most likely sent away when she was born, to a different village, and she grew up not knowing about her family until later. Maybe that's why she rebelled against her village and became an Akatsuki, and why she was accepted, because she was filled with rage and the perfect warrior."

"She's been taken by wrath, then." Sango said. "Kagome, maybe it wasn't Kakashi's fault, maybe there's something different about her that they sensed, something dangerous."

"Then why didn't they send me away…?" Kagome whispered, reaching for the Shikon jewel in her pocket. As soon as she touched it she felt a strange tingle run up her arm. "The Shikon jewel was inside of me my whole life until I turned fifteen, why didn't they send me away when they also most likely sensed it? The Shikon jewel is more dangerous than most things out there, Sango-chan."

"I know, and maybe they did. Maybe they found the well and sent you there, and Kakashi was aloud to go for a few years then had to come back. Kagome, there are so many reasons out there, maybe you should talk with your father." Sango said softly. Kagome bit her lip and nodded.

"Yes…" she whispered. They both turned back to the house and Kagome bit her lip again. Sango took her hand and the two walked back to the house, where Kakashi was found waiting for them, but Sasuke and Shippou were gone. "Where'd the guys go?"

"They went looking for you…must have gone the wrong way." Kakashi replied.

"I need to talk with you." Kagome said.

"It's about Mitsuki, isn't it?" he asked.

"If that's the name of my new found twin, then yes," Kagome replied.

"We sent her away. She has something inside of her. Something…abnormal. The same thing inside of Naruto." Kakashi replied.

"What's inside of Naruto?"

"He has the Kyuubi inside of him, sealed. The fourth Hokage died because of this, sealing it inside of his own son. He said he wanted Naruto to be looked upon as a hero, not a beast, but it seemed to backfire. Naruto is shunned, and his childhood was spent in denial and loneliness." Kakashi said softly. "To the people, he is just the beast in human form, but it's not true."

"So…that's the demonic feeling we get from him?" Kagome asked, and Kakashi nodded. "And my sister has the same thing inside of her?"

"No, the Kyuubi is his own beast. She has a different beast inside of her, the dog, Houkou, the five-tailed demon." Kakashi replied. "It was sealed inside of her by her grandfather. She is dangerous, very dangerous, and she also would've been shunned if she had stayed here, but the Village Of The Flames took her in, used her, they were glad that she had this beast inside of her."

"That's horrible! Why would people do that?" Kagome asked.

"Suki is something different now. She has let the beast take control of her, she is a child I am not so proud of." Kakashi whispered.

"You're horrible, too, for not believing in her and supporting her. For letting her go so easily." Kagome replied.

"I didn't let her go easily. I begged for her to stay, I begged to bring her to Tokyo with your mother, but they said she was too dangerous, and her being in a world they could not reach was something they could not accept. They sent you away, as well, but I was able to convince them to let me keep you away from the world here, and that it would lay dormant in your body." Kakashi whispered.

"You mean one of those things were inside of me?" Kagome demanded.

"It was your grandmother who did it for you. It wasn't one of the nine youkai, but a different one. A fox." Kakashi replied. "Just a fox, a youkai that was causing troubles. A lot of troubles. It needed to be gotten rid of, the men couldn't kill it, and the beast was attacking the same night as the dog, and so your grandparents made the ultimate sacrifices. They knew it would most likely ruin your childhoods, but they sensed you and Suki were strong. Maybe they should have switched the babies, you seem to be more reliable."

"I have a fox inside of me…?" Kagome asked. He nodded softly. "Great…" she whispered. "Just great."

"It would explain why Shippou is always so clingy towards you and why he sees you as a motherly-figure." Sango said with a shrug. Kagome groaned.

"I can't believe this! Why didn't you tell me?" Kagome snapped, glaring at Kakashi, who shrugged.

"I was waiting for the right time, and this isn't exactly it but it was brought up so I just told you anyways." He replied. Kagome's eye twitched.

"Thanks." She mumbled, crossing her arms. "Just great. I have a fox inside of me, and if anyone in the village finds out I'm gunna be shunned, won't I?"

"They won't know and they forgot about you long ago." Kakashi replied and Kagome glared at him.

"Do you really think I care?" she snapped, her hands curling into fists. "They _will_ find out, dad, and watch as everything collapses and no one even looks at me!"

"Do you know what Naruto fears?" Kakashi whispered, looking down. "He fears that very thing, Kagome, and people know about him very well. They will bring their children up to detest him and people like him. Don't think you are the only one, because you're not. There are many others, Kagome, many. Inside of you is Kyuubi's daughter. There are nine tails for that fox as well. She was more dangerous than you think.

"I regret deeply for ignoring Naruto, for not realizing that he needed attention when he was younger, because despite his mask…Naruto is broken. He tried so hard to keep his mask from falling, then one day a foreigner comes and greets him kindly, and she befriends him becomes a sister-like-figure to him. He didn't dare tell her in fear of her shunning him as well."

"I didn't do that, Kakashi." Kagome whispered, "He did it all on his own. I gave him a push, that was all. He didn't quite treat it right, he should have told me, maybe he would've realized I was a good friend, but Sakura and Sasuke knew all along and they stuck with him, didn't they? It was hardly me, I just helped him see. He'll be fine now, he knows people care about him."

"Interesting speech." Kakashi replied.

"Thanks." Kagome beamed at him, suddenly happy. "Now, about this fox inside of me, what's her name and how do I talk with her? I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to at all times, and knowing I'm not just going crazy."

"We haven't figured out her name, truthfully. As for talking to her, you could try and speak with Naruto. I know he had contact with Kyuubi, and talks to him every now and then." Kakashi replied, looking up solemnly.

"Right…Kakashi doesn't have a slit personality to deal with…I forgot." Sango said with a small shake of the head and Kagome snorted while Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"I don't like being called schizophrenic Sango-chan." Kagome said between laughter. Sango just shrugged.

"It's practically what it is, Kagome-kun, just a split personality in your head." She said. Kagome huffed, glaring at her best friend playfully.

"Whatever, Sango. As if you don't." she replied. "I've seen the way your expressions change when we're not talking for a while, you'll be angry then amused then sad and then frustrated all within a few seconds as if there's various people talking all at once using your face to show their emotions."

"Shut up…" Sango mumbled. "I get bored…I didn't know the expressions slipped."

"Bored?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or was it because you actually enjoy their company?"

"Well, you would too if you could create the perfect people to hang out with." Sango replied defiantly. Kagome winced. "Oh…gomen, Kagome-chan."

"It's fine." Kagome whispered, fingering the jewel in her pocket. "Otto-san, you don't know about my past, do you?"

"No, I don't." Kakashi replied.

"Well, seeming as you're my blood, I might as well tell you everything about the Feudal Era and who we really are." Kagome sat down on the couch. "You might want to sit, this is going to take a long time."

End Chapter


	15. Blood Lines

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 15: Blood Lines

Naruto glared up at the sun, his blue orbs illuminated with the burst of energy coming from the huge fireball that was really billions of miles away. His blond hair shifted as a light breeze hit him and he shifted his headband. He scratched his whiskers then looked over at the forest, the green leaves swaying and dancing playfully with the wind.

"Hey , Naruto?" Sakura whispered beside him and he glanced at the girl. She wore a black halter top and a pair of baggy black cotton shorts that reached past her knees with tons of pockets and red hemming. Kagome had influenced her. Naruto liked it, though, it looked good, and it was a good influence for Sakura because she was actually less self-conscious about what Sasuke would think.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" he asked and Sakura glanced at him. He himself had changed. He wore a black T-shirt without the bright jump suit this time, and a pair of baggy black sweats with bandages around the ankles, and his kunai pockets was black instead of blue. His headband would always be blue, though, because it was the one that Iruka-sensei had given him personally.

"Do you think Kagome will make him happy?" she whispered. Naruto looked at Sakura, shocked. He had a vague idea who she was talking about.

"Be more specific, Sakura-chan." Naruto taunted.

"You know who, Naruto," Sakura snapped. "We both know how it'll end up in the end." She sighed, and hugged herself. "I guess I really should've let that silly crush go while I had the chance."

"You still can," Naruto said. "No one's forcing you to like him." Sakura looked at him, her eyes widening a fraction, and he smiled softly at her. "It's true. You can let it go whenever you like. Maybe your heart doesn't agree right now, but maybe it will later."

"Since when did the prankster become understanding?" Sakura asked jokingly and Naruto blushed.

"Since he realized he had good friends." He replied. Sakura smiled.

"Thanks, Naruto," she whispered.

"And as for your first question, yeah, they'll be good together. I'm more worried about how Sasuke will treat Kagome, though. They still have a long ways to go though before they actually spark, then another long way to go before they actually admit it." Naruto said with a sigh and Sakura chuckled.

"I have a feeling you're right." She said and he grinned.

"Now…as for Sango…I saw her looking at Gaara when we were having dinner before we left." Naruto said slowly and Sakura snorted.

"Well, that'll probably take way longer than Kagome and Sasuke, if anyone's more stubborn than Sasuke it's Gaara." Sakura said. "But I also noticed the looks Kakashi and Sango were sharing…though that would be a little gross going out with Kagome's dad and all."

"I can't believe our sensei has such a great daughter." Naruto mumbled, shaking his head. "I'm almost tempted to get Kakashi to adopt me so I really can be her brother, I mean, Kakashi might actually agree."

"Actually, he might not seeming as he would be paying a ton of damage bills…" Sakura mumbled, and Naruto glared at her.

"Don't be so mean." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"You asked for it," Sakura replied with a wink, then disappeared. Naruto sighed, and disappeared as well. Both were completely oblivious to the girl watching them in the shadows.

"I need a new mission…" she mumbled, crossing her arms. "These people are too cheerful, they have absolutely no problems. It's annoying."

"It's not that bad." She looked back and smiled coolly.

"Itachi…here to watch your girlfriend Rin?" she asked.

"No, wondering what you were up to." He replied. "Also, Orochimaru has plans. He thinks I'm going to find Naruto and capture him. He said something about how Naruto would be a good puppet just like Sasuke. Speaking of which, his plans are to awaken the curse, to reveal everything to his new friends."

"Hn…you're growing too soft, Itachi…" she whispered. "Were you planning on warning your little brother?"

"No…I merely wish to watch, and see what he has become with Kagome around him and how well he will be able to be in control this time."

"He was given the curse at a young age," she whispered, her mahogany eyes distant. "Yet he has no experience. Orochimaru attacked me when I was 6…you're lucky your brother has such little experience about his own family."

"And you? What will you do about your sister?" Itachi asked.

"Maybe I'll meet her, but possibly out of curiousness…or out of blood lust." Itachi felt a shiver go up his spine.

"You're really creepy, you know that?" he asked and the girl turned.

"Why should you talk? You were the one who left only your dear little brother out of the softness of your heart, yet caused him more suffering and pain because he was left all alone, especially after you yourself left. He was clouded by hate and he wanted revenge, and his goal is still to kill you. Even after that long talk you two had, he said at the end of it that he would still get his re-"

"What the fuck do you know!?" Itachi yelled, and she smirked.

"A lot." She said with a shrug. "I know you miss him, Itachi, you can't hide it from me, and I know you've fallen for that little girl. It's pitiful, really, letting yourself go so easily. What makes you so sure she loves you back?"

"Go away…" Itachi whispered. "Just…leave me alone…"

"As you wish." The words left her lips slowly, and Itachi shuddered, and watched as she disappeared. She really freaked him out, not only because of her overly calm voice that was quite feminine but always had a slight male tint to it from the youkai he knew was inside of her. It was also because she could read him like an open book, and it annoyed Itachi so much to know he could be read so easily. And by a girl no less.

He took the last thought back, he knew better than to underestimate females, and he preferred not being sexist. Still, by _that_ girl.

Maybe one day he'd find out her secrets.

("…")

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Kakashi asked and Kagome bit her lip.

"I was afraid the village wouldn't accept us, we had to be cautious."

"I see how that would come up, but after two months, Kagome. Didn't you trust us enough by then?" Kakashi asked and Kagome looked down guiltily, her hand folded in her lap. Sango touched her shoulder and Kagome looked at the girl with a weak smile.

"We were cautious, Kakashi. We had just gone through a huge battle and lost those who were _very_ important to us. We didn't want to go through a shunning in a world we didn't know and when we made friends we decided to leave our past behind us and thought it better to just not tell you." Sango said softly.

"I-" Kakashi was cut off as Naruto suddenly ran into the room, looking at them with excited eyes.

"C'mon! There's some kind of celebration going on at the gate of the village!" he said excitedly and they all got up warily. They looked at each other nervously and took off with Naruto.

As they reached the gate Kagome had a hard time not plugging her ears from the deafening sounds. People were howling and screeching. For some strange reason Kagome swore she heard 'MARRY ME!!'

"Oh yes…I forgot…" Kakashi said slowly. Kagome tensed and looked back at him.

"What now?" she growled out.

"You say it as if I forget things all the time!" Kakashi said, beaming at her, making Kagome sweat drop. "Anyways, a teen sensation band is on tour, and they're here for a few days. Tsunade gave _us_ the job of guarding them, as well as Ino's team and a couple Hyuuga's with their friends."

"Teen…sensation…?" Kagome asked, twitching. "No…way…"

"_Please _don't start jumping up and down in joy, Sakura already is…" Kagome jumped and turned to find a man with long, pale black hair (if possible) in a low ponytail and a black Konoha headband around his forehead, and his white eyes had a strange energy coming from them and were pupiless. He wore a white t-shirt with bandages on his wrists and ankles and a pair of baggy black shorts.

"Uh…I'm sorry…who're you?" Kagome asked, cocking her head to the side.

"It's only polite to introduce yourself first." He replied.

"Alright, I'm Higurashi Kagome. Nice to meet you." Kagome said, putting out a hand. "Now, who're you?"

"Hyuuga Neji." He ignored her hand, and Kagome laughed nervously, putting it back to her side as he turned and watched the squealing fans. A girl was beside him, her dark brown hair in two buns and cheerful brown eyes, wearing a pink vest and baggy green Capri's with many pockets. She also wore the Konoha forehead protector, blue, around her forehead.

"Tenten." She said simply. Kagome blinked, then shrugged. Beside Tenten was a man with short black hair in a bob and black eyes and the biggest eyebrows she had ever seen. He wore a green vest and a black T-shirt underneath, and black sweats with bandages on his ankles with army boots on. "And dog brows over there is Rock Lee."

"Kiba Inuzuka." A guy said, appearing beside Kakashi. He had two red streaks running down his face, and short, spiked brown hair, and his black eyes were like slits and were much like Gaara's. He wore black zip up sandals that went up his ankles, and a pair of black cargo Capri's with a black net T-shirt and a black leather jacket. He, as well, wore the Konoha headband.

"Hi…" Kagome said slowly. She jumped when a huge beige dog nuzzled her hand. She looked down at it then smiled, petting its head softly. It, she found out was actually a he, licked her hand. She giggled.

"That's Akamaru." Kiba said. Kagome smiled softly.

"He's a nice dog…" she whispered, scratching behind his ear.

"Hinata! You're here!" Tenten called and a girl with supremely dark purple hair that looked black walked up with the same eyes as Neji, and she also had her hair cut short, and she wore her headband around her neck. She wore a pair of beige shorts and black sandals, as well as a white sweater with a black T-shirt underneath. "And with Shino…" she said, obviously trying to act happy.

"Hi…" the girl said, Kagome guessed Hinata. The one who would be called Shino, then, would be the one in the large black cloak with the hood over his head and the huge collar on his jacket going high enough to cover most of his face, leaving his sun glassed eyes. Kagome shivered, she sensed great power from this person. She sensed incredible power from each person here, including Sakura, Naruto, and the newly arrived Sasuke.

"Hn…" Sasuke mumbled, glancing at the people there with them. Kagome sighed.

"Why are you always so…passive?" Kagome asked, crossing her arms. "I swear, one of these days, Sasuke, and I _will_ make you laugh!"

(Blink, blink)

"What?" Kagome asked.

"I pity you…" Neji said.

"Deffinently," Tenten muttered.

"Good luck with that, eh?" Kiba winked. Hinata just shuffled her feet while Lee tried to elegantly hide his laughter. Naruto, however, was already rolling on the floor laughing. Sakura just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come off it guys." She muttered, "Sasuke's right here, and he's quite human too."

"Whatever." They all said in unison as Naruto stood, brushing himself off.

"Shall we greet our subjects?" Kakashi said finally. They all looked over at him boredly, watching as he absently turned the page of another issue of Icha-Icha Paradise. Kagome sweat dropped.

"Dad…put the porno mag away…" she said slowly. Kakashi sweat dropped, then sighed dejectedly and put it in his pocket. "Thank you…now let's go meet the stupid little pretty boys who think they can sing." She shuddered.

"Right." Obviously Kagome, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto did not notice the shocked looks on very one's face at the mention of the word dad.

"Are you coming or what?" Sakura called back. They all snapped out of it and rushed up to them. Kiba asked the question first.

"Why did she say dad?" he asked curiously and Sakura sweat dropped.

"Long story…" she mumbled. "And yes, they are."

"Holy shit!" Tenten yelled out, going wide eyed. Every one looked back at her and she blushed lightly. Kagome rolled her eyes and continued walking, slightly surprised to find Sango and Rin already waiting there with bored expressions. As soon as they saw Kagome they brightened.

"Kagome! Oh my god this is so god damn boring!" Sango called, hugging Kagome. Kagome blinked.

"When did you become girly…?" Kagome asked. Sango blushed and pulled away.

"Sorry…boredom gets to me sometimes." Sango muttered, looking away.

"Meh…" Kagome mumbled. After a while, all introductions and misunderstandings were solved, and they were right on time, because right then the gate opened, causing even more screams. Kagome couldn't help it this time, she slammed her hands over her ears and immediately fell into fetal position.

"Could someone get her earplugs or something…?" Sango mumbled with a sigh, shaking her head. Rin chuckled beside her.

"Good old Kagome, huh Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, looking back at the jounin.

"Sure…" he mumbled, pulling out the infamous orange book. Every one sighed.

"Here." Naruto pulled out earplugs and Rin took them, kneeling down and tapping Kagome's shoulder. She cracked an eye open and quickly took the earplugs, putting them on.

"Thanks…" she said, standing up and brushing herself off. She watched with a disgusted look on her face as the pop stars slowly approached…

End Chapter


	16. Ungard!

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha

Chapter 16: Ungard!

Kagome sighed, sliding down the wall in agony. Her head was about to burst, even with the earplugs stuffed in her ears. She glared at the door where the music was coming from. Beside her, Neji gave her a sympathetic glance. It had been a week since the two had been posted out there together.

"How much longer until these idiots leave?" Kagome groaned.

"I think one more day."

"Just one more night shift for me to endure." Kagome groaned out. She sighed and checked her watch. "What the hell…?" she mumbled, staring at her new watch in shock. She had bought a watch a couple days ago so she could know exactly when she could leave, not really caring if the others arrived or not.

"What?"

"It says its 3:30 am, and there's still music going on in there…why the hell are they even up so late? Usually they're sleeping by now."

"Maybe they need some time to practice." Neji said with a shrug.

"How come you never look into things?" Kagome asked, standing up and leaning against the door, putting her ear to it. She pulled out her kunai slowly and carefully, she could hear it. "Hey, you said you had that all seeing eye, right?" she mumbled.

"Fine…" Neji sighed and called upon the all seeing eye, and stared inside. He blinked slowly at what he saw, then smirked coldly. "We have visitors."

"Excellent! Finally something to do!" Kagome crowed, then covered her mouth immediately. She glanced at Neji, who just rolled his eyes and moved in beside her. He turned the knob slowly, poked his head in, and snuck in. Kagome quickly fallowed. They hid behind a couch, and watched as their visitors took everything that was worth value while the teen pops were tied to chairs with their mouths covered.

"Kagome, don't just attack brutally." Neji muttered. "We need to think this out."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kagome whispered, rolling her eyes. "Who bloody well cares about battle plans?" she stood up and pulled out Tetsusaiga. The sword transformed into a fang, and Neji saw her true power as he looked at the huge sword. The way she held it, though, was as if it was painful. Not heavy, just painful. As if it brought something back to her.

"Kagome…" he whispered, but it was too late. The sound of Tetsusaiga and the fact that it let off light when unsheathed had caught their attention and they were now facing her, cracking their knuckles. Kagome smirked. They all stood in a stance, aware of her huge sword.

"Hello, pretty," one said. He pulled out his own sword and did a few fancy tricks, causing Kagome to roll her eyes, and her smirk to widen.

"Well, if you insist on tricks…" she said dangerously, and Neji's eyes widened as he watched the power engulf the sword. "I was hoping for fun, but you seem to insist on dying quickly." This was a side he had never seen before. Then again, he had only spent a week with her, and in that week the only thing she had really done was sit around and be bored because nothing ever happened except a few fan girls trying to sneak in sometimes.

Kagome had claimed that if he didn't have that 'stupid' all seeing eye, then maybe they could've had some fun in actually finding the girls and having something to do…

"Heh, I'd like to see you try, girl." One said. His voice was oily and husky, like his hair. Kagome's eyes narrowed slightly and she gave a purely cold smile.

"Fine…" she whispered lethally. "Wind Scar!" she yelled out. Neji watched as the three scars tore apart the floors and killed the robbers. Truly amazing power…. "And _that…_was nothing." Neji stared in shock at the now ruined floor. Kagome blinked, and turned to face him. She sheathed the huge fang, and he watched as it transformed while being sheathed. "Why're you still on the floor?" she asked and he stood.

"Because you never gave me the chance to do anything."

"Oh…good point." Kagome smiled at him, then glanced over at the pop stars. "Can't we just leave them here?" she whined and Neji paused. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine…" he mumbled. Kagome bounced high in the air, clapping. The pop stars started yelling beneath the duct tape, but the two ninjas ignored them, walking out of the room. One stared off into space while the other hummed happily, just as the two other ninja on guard came in for their shift, staring in bewilderment at the now ruined room. On the table was a quickly scribbled note that read;

'_Rin and Kiba,_

_sorry 'bout the mess. Robbers came, had to use Tetsusaiga. As for the pops, didn't care 'bout them. Ciao!_

_Kags.'_

"That's Kagome for ya…"

"Sounds interesting."

"ARF!"

End Chapter


	17. Complexities

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto

Chapter 17: Complexities

All was silent in the apartment of Naruto, except for the occasional snort from the sleeping boy. The window was wide open, and a harsh breeze came through, awakening the boy. His eyes snapped open to find honey brown ones peering down at him and he let out a frightened squeak, shrinking into his bed.

"Chill Naruto. It's me."

"Oh…" Naruto sat up. "What're you doing here, Kagome?"

"Waking you up. Time for training." She replied, crossing her arms in a motherly-like fashion. Naruto groaned.

"But nee-chan…" he whined.

"No buts, Naruto. Get up before I make you." She seethed and he gulped, nodding.

"Okay…" he squeaked and threw the covers off of him completely. He scrambled for a black muscle shirt and baggy black pants, slipping on sandals like Kiba's. He put the pants on over his striped boxers, and slipped on the muscle shirt quickly. He grabbed his head band and slipped it over his head. He didn't want to have a forceful Kagome on his hands, not at all.

"Ready?" Kagome asked and he nodded vigorously. She jumped out the window and Naruto sighed. He was glad he had locked his door last night. He quickly fallowed after Kagome, jumping off roof tops and swinging off of random things. Yet somehow he still was far behind from Kagome. Then again, she _did_ get a head start.

("??")

"Kagome!" Rin cried as soon as Kagome landed. The girl hugged Rin, then pulled back and glanced at Sasuke, who was leaning against a random tree. "Aren't you glad we don't have to deal with those stars? They fired us!"

"Great…" Kagome mumbled, grinning slightly. "Did you tell the others why?"

"No. Sakura was really upset about it, said something about the lead guitarist. If she found out she'd be after your blood." Rin replied, making Kagome chuckle. "What?"

"She has a thing for the lead guitarist? Disgusting…also, she doesn't stand a chance." Kagome said simply, with a small wink.

"That's true, but when Sakura's angry about something her strength goes up tremendously." Sasuke said, staring at the panting Naruto who was sitting on the ground. "Kagome, did you get any sleep last night?"

"…no." Kagome replied. Why'd he _have_ to say something? Suddenly fatigue hit her like a twelve foot wave.

"Didn't think so. The bags under your eyes are significant." He said. "You should rest, or you'll end up getting sick or fainting. You cant be doing these things after getting over a coma barely a week ago."

"Sasuke…are you _worrying_ about me?" Kagome asked, astonished. She saw the small flush on his face and she giggled. "Don't worry," even as she said it the wariness hit her, as if mocking her. "I'll be fin-" and suddenly darkness filled her world.

("??")

"Told you…" Sasuke mumbled, shaking his head.

"Will she ever learn?" Rin asked, sighing. "Oh well, might as well let her sleep for a bit. She disserves it. She killed robbers last night when she was on guard, used the Tetsusaiga. I don't know if that caused her to lose strength or something…"

"No, it was lack of sleep. She hasn't been getting any since she's been put on night shift." Sasuke replied. "Neji told me."

"Oh…" Rin said slowly, and watched as Sasuke walked up and picked up the unconscious girl. Kagome was hoisted over his shoulder, and Rin watched with wide eyes as the Shikon Jewel fell out of Kagome's pocket. Rin tried to reach for it, but flinched back as she felt the aura around it, and she backed away slowly, looking at the jewel fearfully.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, looking down at the jewel. "It's just a necklace…"

"Don't touch it!" Rin snapped as Sasuke began to lean down to grab the Shikon No Tama. He looked at Rin weirdly. He leaned down again and watched as Rin winced, closing her eyes, and he picked up the jewel. As he stood, he went stiff. Something was taking control of him. Something was consuming him. His eyes were wide and blank.

Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by a purple fire-like aura, and he was floating in blackness. He couldn't breath as he floated there, the jewel limply in his hand, and Kagome was no longer on his shoulder.

_What're you doing here?_

"Who is that…?" Sasuke asked. But his mouth hadn't moved…

_Why are you here? You do not belong here._

_I don't want to belong here…_the voice seemed to sooth him as he let the words fill his mind and heard them echo around him. His thoughts were being heard…where was this place? This strange, evil yet pure place.

_You are in the Shikon No Tama._

_What do you mean?_

_I mean what I say._

_NO! LEAVE!_ Sasuke was startled by the sudden yell, and suddenly found himself on ground, in the same place he was before, and his eyes retuned to normal. The jewel was not in his hands anymore. Maybe if he had paid attention, he would've noticed that when he had been floating the jewel had suddenly grown black.

He was startled awake from his reverie when he saw Kagome standing in front of him with wide eyes, filled with fear and rage, and in her hands was the jewel, now bright pink and glowing slightly. She put it over her head forcefully and glared at Sasuke.

"Don't ever touch this jewel again…" she whispered in a voice that Sasuke had never heard before. "Do you understand?" the way she sounded, and the sudden unexplainable look made Sasuke nod. The look on her face was almost a mix of understanding, fear, rage and…love?

"Kagome!" Sasuke jumped when he heard Sango's voice. When Sango arrived in the small circle, she looked at the Shikon Jewel around Kagome's neck and the strange look on both Kagome and Sasuke's faces. Understanding entered her features. "Kagome, c'mon."

"What is it?" Kagome whispered, still looking at Sasuke. Still looking at him with that unexplainable look. That's when it triggered. Obsession.

"Your father wants you." Sango replied. Sasuke's stomach squirmed as Kagome's eyes narrowed at him, then she turned.

"Sasuke, what happened in your mind was just your imagination." Kagome whispered. "Nothing happened…" as she walked off, Sango looked back at Sasuke with sad eyes, and walked behind Kagome with a strange kind of sulky walk. Sasuke looked at Rin to find she was still staring at the spot where Kagome had stood, her eyes blank and tears on the brim of them. She looked petrified.

"Rin?" he whispered.

"I…saw him…" she whispered. "I saw him…" she fell to her knees and Sasuke ran up to her, grabbing her shoulders and trying to look Rin in the eyes, but she seemed not to notice him. The tears fell. "I'm so sorry…I'm so, so sorry…I never meant to do it…I never meant to do it…I want him back…I _need_ him back…father…" she sobbed and fell forward, embracing Sasuke. His eyes were wide with shock.

'_Father…? What did she do…?'_

"Rin," the girl was stiff in Sasuke's arms suddenly. She pulled back slowly, her eyes wide and fearful. She turned slowly to where Sasuke was already staring. Itachi watched the two with blank eyes. Rin stood, and a soft smile appeared on her lips, and her eyes returned to normal, but they still held that unbelievable fear of a child. "Rin…are you ok?"

"Itachi…" she whispered, and walked towards him. Another tear escaped, and Sasuke picked himself up, ignoring the dirt on his knees. He watched as Rin fell into Itachi's arms, and they stood there in the shade of a tree, embracing each other lovingly. Sasuke felt his heart break in two, and barely noticed the mahogany eyes hiding in the shadows. Love…was that was Sasuke was missing in his lonely heart?

"Rin, it's ok." Itachi whispered, stroking Rin's hair. He looked at Sasuke with thankful eyes. Eyes that sent a message. They said '_Thank you for making sure she did not get hurt.' _Sasuke replied with a small nod, and then he walked off, ignoring the sudden sting on his neck and the fact that a very familiar mark reappeared as the girl in the darkness smirked.

"Kagome…are you ready?" she whispered, before disappearing. Eight words remained in the air as the swirl of leaves fell to the ground. "_Because you are about to experience something great…"_

("…")

"Sango, have you ever wondered what's on the third floor?" Kagome asked. She was completely calmed down, and it was night time. It was around midnight. Sango had decided to spend the night with Kagome, just to watch the girl, and to make sure she wasn't lonely.

"No…I was trained to not be curious about things we aren't aloud to see when in a guest's house, unless it's the enemy's. My training will always stay with me, no matter what, and sometimes it just happens unconsciously." Sango whispered. Kagome smiled softly from her bed.

"You know, don't you?" she whispered, and heard as Sango shuffled to face the girl. "You know I'm dying on the inside. You know it's because of the Shikon No Tama, and you know no one can save me."

"What could save you, Kagome?" Sango whispered, choking back tears. Yes, she knew well about the fact that Kagome was dying slowly from the loss. She wasn't trained, she wasn't as strong as Sango. Sango herself was dying slowly because she had not been trained to heal her heart when she lost the person she loved most.

"I don't know…" Kagome whispered. "The jewel, though. It is possibly quickening the process. I'm not sure yet, though. You feel it too, right? The pulse of the jewel?"

"That thing will never leave me alone, and you know it wont. It has caused so many wrongs in my life, no matter what it will always be with me, haunting me. It must be so much more of a burden having to carry it…"

"Do not pity me." Kagome replied.

"I don't. I never will. I do not pity people, because I myself do not wish to be pitied. I merrily pointed it out, Kagome. The jewel is such a burden to those who do not carry it. To that who must carry it, it must be unbelievable. The pain, I mean. The jewel brings dread to people's lives because of the souls inside."

"I need to destroy the jewel, Sango…" Kagome whispered. "But I'm obsessed with it. I can't leave it because I need it. It's my life support. If it isn't with me I feel empty, as if I'll fall down dead. InuYasha's dead because of it…because he wanted me to fulfill my task. The night before we entered the battle, he told me that he no longer wished to be a full demon.

"He told me he thought he would be fine without being a full demon. If it meant I was happy, then he would be happy. It was like saying he loved me…and it broke my heart. I told him I would complete the jewel and purify it, then I would destroy it. He died because he was trying to get that jewel for me, and every night I realize he died because of me. That it was my fault…"

"Kagome?" Sango whispered. "Don't destroy it yet. We need to find something…we can make a wish, a pure wish. Maybe something will happen Kagome. Maybe we will both stop dying."

"Maybe…" Kagome whispered, and closed her eyes. "Sango? What would happen if we ever learned to love again?"

"I'm not sure, Kagome, I'm not sure."

End Chapter


	18. Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto or Lose Control by Evanescence

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Naruto or Lose Control by Evanescence

Chapter 18: Darkness

You don't remember my name…

Kagome stared in the mirror, her eyes dull as she felt something pulse within her. She knew what it was now. All thanks to her little talk with her father. What was her name?

_I don't really care_

What was the importance in knowing her name? Somehow Kagome felt as if she needed to know, so that she could have someone to call upon. The feeling she was receiving, though, said different. It said that the beast within her didn't want to tell in fear of something.

_Can we play the game your way?_

It was like a game. A guessing game. Kagome was the guesser, and the beast was the secret holder. It reminded her of Harry Potter and Dumbledore being the secret keeper in the book. Such a strange way to keep a secret…but why would this beast, beautiful and haunting, want to hide her name?

_Can I really lose control?_

Kagome could feel her patience slipping for the first time. Curiosity hit her like a sack of potatoes, and she would stop at nothing…all for a name? That question wasn't her, though. It was the beast.

_Just once in my life_

Just once…maybe she would…

_I think it'd be nice_

Maybe, for the first time…

_Just to lose control, just once!_

She'd actually lose her patience, lose her control…all because of a name? Why? What's the point?

_With all the pretty flowers in the dust_

_Mary had a lamb_

There was a smash, and blood dripped to the ground with a small drip.

_His eyes as black as coals_

All she saw was darkness as she ignored the pain in her hand. She reached through her mind until she came to the huge cage. Red eyes pierced the darkness as well as the iron bars.

_If we play very quiet, my lamb_

There was a growl, and white teeth shone in the dark. A snarl and a bark, and then Kagome felt a small smile fill her lips. Why was she happy? The silence had been pushing down on her, but as she stared at those red, red eyes, she felt at home again.

_Mary never has to know_

No one knew she was here, they most likely saw a soulless girl standing in front of shattered glass. Sango would be worried, so would Rin, but who cared? They could deal without her for a while, and they could have a bit of panic.

_Just once in my life_

She just wanted to do something for herself for once. Just something that she could only know, without someone else snooping in. She wanted her own adventure…she always had someone tagging along with her and holding her back, but not this time. They couldn't get inside her own body.

_I think it'd be nice_

It was nice to face the monster within her, but she never really actually thought of it as a monster or a beast. It was the only thing she could think of for this fox, that could really describe the size and what its power was like.

_Just to lose control, just once!_

Kagome was calm again, but she could feel the control ebbing away as she stepped forward once. The snarl erupted into a low growl, almost as if mocking her. Kagome grinned softly.

_If I cut you down to a thing I can use_

The beast was so huge…so beautiful…yet Kagome didn't see a thing. She could just tell. The sound of claws scraping along the cement floor echoed in the hollow, black and orange emptiness. Kagome was in the light, while She was in the dark.

**I fear there will be nothing good left of you!**

_You are either very brave or very foolish to stand before me with a grin._

"I was born with stubbornness, and InuYasha helped out too." Kagome replied softly.

You came for a name you knew you wouldn't get…

"Sometimes a person is willing to come for peace and quiet, not just answers. Being content is important, too." Kagome whispered. She dare not speak loudly, not in the suddenly peaceful silence that had fallen upon the area.

Peace and quiet…being shared with a beast…?

"I've done it before." Kagome said with a shrug. "I'm sure you were there, you don't seem to have anything to do here, so you probably enter my thoughts and watch everything I do from first person view. That's what I would do."

_You're an interesting human, true._

"Are you the same age as me?" Kagome asked, cocking her head to the side.

_I was born the night my father was encased in Naruto. I was put inside you about three weeks later._

"Oh…" Kagome muttered. She was born September 15, so Naruto must have been either born on the first week of September or in August.

_Why are you bothering me? I was actually musing over something when you came. I should've known you'd come after that talk with Kakashi. It wasn't really a surprise. Every one gets curious._

"I was only curious about the name."

_Too bad, you aren't getting it. At least, not for now. Maybe I'll tell you someday._

"That's not very nice…" Kagome pouted, crossing her arms and sticking her nose high in the air. "Why won't you tell me?"

_I don't know, maybe because I don't have to._

"Oh c'mon! This is brutal! I'm CURIOUS!!!!!" Kagome yelled. So much for the comfortable silence.

_I'm having an argument with a human…how pitiful…by the way, if you don't bandage that cut soon, it's going to get infected. Your friends are coming to see what the noise was._

"Great…" Kagome mumbled. "I'll be back later, maybe. If they don't get all protective."

_You should just leave for a couple days, let yourself have a bit of time to think and be content, as you call it._

"Yeah, right. They'll be looking for me the second they find out I'm not anywhere in Konoha." Kagome sighed out. She groaned and wiped her face with her hand, closing her eyes for a moment. "Anyways, I'll see you later. See ya." She mumbled, waving and suddenly feeling very fatigued. She could feel the area leave as she once again entered her own mind that was black and currently not working very well. Right before she left, though, she barely heard the beast say something.

_My name's Kasai by the way. See ya round, twerp._

Kasai…a pretty name, and it suited the fox well. At least it wasn't beast anymore. As Kagome finally regained complete consciousness of her mind, she opened her eyes and looked down at her cut up hand. She sighed and put her hand over it, watching as bandages appeared with a pink and black glow surrounding them, watching as they surrounded Kagome's hand and wrapped it up completely. She used a bit more energy to make a pair of fingerless black gloves, and knew that was all she had. She fell to her knees and ignored the glass, falling backwards into a deep sleep.

She barely heard Sasuke's voice as he entered the room, but gave a small smile.

'Maybe everything will be ok for a little while…'"OI! Wench! Let's go, we have jewel shards to find and Naraku to kill!"

"SIT!!!"

CRASH

End Chapter


End file.
